Where Do I Start with Emergency Preparedness?

 

We get asked this question a lot by companies and individuals that want to be  prepared but

aren't sure where to start.  There are so many options, so many variables: assessments, training,

policies, drills... At the end of the day, preparedness for critical events starts with you.  

You have to be able to face the fact they might happen and CHOOSE to be prepared.  Like any

commitment, it is going to take time and money.  We recommend you invest in simple yet 

effective Safety Strategy that avoids militarizing your organization.

 

To the right is an outline of steps you can consider for your business or place of work.  While

this is a great layout, we want to emphasize that training (the last step) can happen at any

time, without any of the previous steps.  Our team loves training... because at the end of the

day, no matter how good your analysis was or how standardized your plan is, it is going to be

YOU who has to act.  And we want to empower you to act correctly, even in the face of serious

odds.  

 

1. Safety Audit, or Risk and Vulnerability Assessments of your facility

   1. A full physical security analysis, climate surveys, evaluation of current policies, training
      documents, reporting standards, technologies, and other risks on your site.  Can be
      hazard-specific for violence or multi-hazard.  This includes a site-specific Mitigation
      Analysis Report with recommended changes, options, tools, and other feedback (10-25
      pages).

2. Creation of site-specific Standard Operating Procedures or an EOP

   1. A great option post-risk assessment.  Creating a full-blown EOP for your company can
      literally take years (we recommend this as well!).  A site-specific SOP is much more
      manageable and might be a good first step (10-25 pages).  It is designed to be a training and resource tool for site-specific employees, and includes emergency annexes, communication protocol, critical resource maps, and emergency policies.

3. Conduction of on-site drills and exercises

   1. After you have an SOP, you’d better practice it.  We can conduct small drills or coordinate multi-agency full-scale scenarios on your site.

4. Taking more advanced training certification classes

   1. We offer on-site certification training in Active Shooter response, Emergency Management (Disaster, fire, flooding), First Aid/CPR/AED, De-Escalation classes, Defensive Tactics, and other certifications (OC spray, etc.)  These classes can be 2-8 hours in length. 

   2. We offer these classes to the public as well: if enough individuals sign up or express interest in a given area, we’ll host a class.  Get together a group and let us know!

5. Develop an in-house team of community stakeholders to investigate potential threats and create safety plans

   1. Pre-attack indicators of violence are always present prior to an attack.  Your team needs training on how to recognize these signs and then act early.  The only way you win in an active shooter situation is to prevent it from ever happening!

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The TTA provides 24/7 on-call emergency managers that many districts, agencies and businesses rely on. If you're interested in a partnership with our team for multiple services, contact us​ for a proposal.