Category Archives: disaster response

Crisis Management for Bystanders

Published on 9th May 2013 by . Leave a Comment

[Editor's note: This post from Paul Purcell, Bernstein Crisis Management contractor and author of Disaster Prep 101 - The Ultimate Guide to Emergency Readiness, explains how bystander businesses can lend a hand in the midst of crisis.]

On April 15th, the nation witnessed the tragedy of the Boston Marathon bombing, and we simultaneously witnessed the heroism of public safety officials, runners, and race fans who sprinted into harm’s way to help total strangers.

As the smoke cleared and the injured were being tended to, the “uninvolved” bystanders – if anyone can call them that – searched for answers to the immediate questions of “What do I do now?”  “How can I help?”  Or, “Do I stay out of the way?”  Among those asking these questions were the businesses lining the race route.

In today’s post, we ask these questions of you.  If your business was in the vicinity of a public event which was attacked, what are the things you could do, before, during, and after an attack, to help not only your own business and employees, but victims as well as the “affected uninjured?”

Here are but a few of the hundreds of options at your disposal that could make a difference.

Before

Train your staff in first aid and CPR.  The skill to save a life is worth its weight in gold whether it’s used to save an injured victim or the life of one of your employees’ family members.

Have a first aid kit and possibly an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) at your location.  Being prepared means having the right tools on hand, even if these tools are rarely used.  In the case of first aid gear, it’s better to have it and not need it than the other way around.

Opt for larger (or extra) fire extinguishers or a mounted fire hose.  Fire is a universal and unforgiving enemy, and like first aid, it’s better to have the extra equipment even if it’s (hopefully) rarely used.    Remember the nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island in 2003?  One hundred fatalities, all for want of a good water fire extinguisher or fire hose.

Report suspicious individuals or packages.  Nothing beats good intel, and one of the best sources of intel is the crowd participating in an event.  Keep a close watch over your immediate area.

During – As an Attack is Occurring

Check your people first, and then branch outward.  Provide safety for any clients in your business as well as your own personnel.

Offer direct assistance to victims as able and call for assistance.  The information you provide on any victims at your location will help emergency responders react accordingly.

Immediately After

Provide shelter.  In the case of the Boston Marathon attack, the immediate area was on lockdown for quite a while.  The weather was a bit on the cool side and many runners arriving at the finish line had little more than their running gear.  As a physical location, you can offer bystanders shelter.  They may need protection from secondary dangers, shelter from the elements, or to simply get out of the way of arriving responders.  However, maintain vigilance for suspicious individuals looking to hide from authorities.

Offer WiFi and/or your land-line phone.  In a situation such as this, cell phone service is going to be a problem.  Heavy use may overload the system, or authorities may shunt service to emergency units.  Either way, you can help people in your area by letting them use any WiFi you may have (which allows email and social media to bypass voice lines), or you may let people use your land-line phone to call loved ones or emergency contacts.

Offer water or food.  The longer an area is on lockdown, the more likely your temporary guests will need a little water or food (and restrooms).  Though you may not have much on site, sharing what you may have on hand is a big help in a situation like this.  Hint:  You may want to bring in a case of bottled water or a bag of snacks on event day just for such an eventuality.

Again, these are but a few of hundreds of steps you could (and should) incorporate into your business’ security plan.  Start with these, add extra layers of safety and protection as you’re able, and help set the example that businesses, just like families, should be prepared for disaster and thereby better manage any crisis in advance of anything actually happening.

Paul Purcell is an Atlanta-based security analyst and preparedness consultant with over twenty years risk management and preparedness experience. He’s also the author of Disaster Prep 101 at www.DisasterPrep101.com.

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Social Media as a Disaster Response Tool

Published on 28th April 2013 by . 1 Comment. Click to add yours.

How are we using social media to better react when disaster strikes?

Social media barely came into its own as a disaster response tool after the devastating 2010 earthquakes in Haiti, but in a few short years it has become the go-to medium for getting things done in the midst of crisis.

Reader Brian shared this infographic from the University of San Francisco’s online Master of Public Administration program that’s jam-packed with intriguing info on how social media is being used for disaster response:


University of San Francisco Online Master of Public Administration

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

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Mass Shootings – Think Prevention as well as Response

Published on 21st December 2012 by . Leave a Comment

Editor’s note: The following guest post from crisis management expert Rick Amme was written several months before Newtown. In his own words, “Unpleasant as this is, it is something you have to think about in a position of leadership: prevention, not just response, when it comes to shootings in the workplace.”

Mass Shootings – Think Prevention as well as Response

As a leader, you worry that your employees can respond to a disaster, especially a mass shooting. Active shooter responses such as, in priority order, RUN – HIDE – FIGHT can save lives. But you may overlook something terribly important when it comes to planning for these rare, but awful, events: prevention – a fact made frighteningly clear in a seminar led by August Vernon, operations officer for the Forsyth County Office of Emergency Management.

Get this. According to the FBI, 81% of the time before a mass shooting the shooter gives clues to others of what he is planning. Vernon says there is NOT a single profile that fits the shooters, but there IS one thing they have in common: similar behaviors. If your organization knows this pre-shooting conduct then you have a better chance of identifying the attacker before he acts. That takes on added importance when you realize that most of these shooters plan their assaults and do not act impulsively.

Common behaviors of potential shooters in the business world are these:

  • Problem employee
  • History of violent behavior
  • Intimidates others
  • Substance abuse
  • Open or veiled threats
  • Obsessed with the job but is not a good employee
  • Loner
  • Us vs. them attitude
  • Can’t take criticism
  • Holds a grudge
  • Preoccupied with guns and gun publications
  • Shows weapons to friends
  • Interested in past acts of violence.
  • Tends to be a white male between 30 and 50 years old.

The characteristics are similar for school student shooters and, like adults, 8 out of 10 of them plan to die during their attack. Vernon said they tend to strike during the first hour or period or at lunch.

Post-incident interviews reveal many are mistaken about the shooter:

  • “He just snapped” – rarely is that so
  • “No one knew” – almost never the case
  • “He didn’t fit the profile” – there is no profile
  • “Most kids have issues” – true, but shooters have severe difficulty coping
  • “We did everything to help him” – no
  • “He never touched a gun” – most shooters’ weapons come from home
  • “He planned it alone” – others often help
  • “If only the SWAT team had been there or we had a metal detector” – most shootings are over before SWAT arrives, metal detectors have not deterred determined shooters.

August Vernon said that the best deterrence of violence at schools comes from having School Resource Officers, armed officers, and a zero tolerance for bullying. He questioned the automatic tendency of schools to lock down when there’s a threat report. He said that if his own children were aware of shooting in their school he would want them to run for their lives and not hide under desks where they’d be sitting ducks.

Finally, why do these mass shooters do it? Vernon says it’s usually anger or revenge over perceived persecutions, slights, and injustice combined with the desire for fame and recognition.

In the years I have worked in crisis management almost all the comments by clients about shooters have been about how they would respond. Unless I brought it up I can’t recall anyone talking about how they would try to avoid violence in the first place. After this seminar, prevention is going to be on my mind more than ever. After this article, hopefully yours.

Bless the children and have a loving holiday,

Rick Amme is president of Amme & Associates, a media/crisis management company in Winston-Salem. He is also a member of the Business Journal’s Editorial Board of Contributors. Reach him via www.amme.com, rick@amme.com or (336) 631-1855.

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Bloomberg Scores with Sandy Crisis Management

Published on 26th November 2012 by . Leave a Comment

Strong crisis communication helps keep residents safe through the hurricane

When Hurricane Sandy came down on New York, the city looked to its mayor for leadership, and he didn’t disappoint. Using all of his substantial crisis management skills, Mayor Bloomberg kept his constituents protected through the power of information. You might expect the native New Yorker’s tone to be harsh, but he was able to inject a rarely-seen dose of compassion into his speaking as well, helping to convince residents of the seriousness of the situation. Here’s a quote, from a Financialist article by Terrence Murray:

Mayor Bloomberg has been criticized in the past for his somewhat distant, technocratic style. However, Sandy brought out the mayor’s softer side. This was particularly true when he made personal appeals to New Yorkers, including urging local surfers not to get their boards out for what promised to be epic waves.

He also repeatedly reminded his constituents that all his exhortations had a single, simple purpose: Avoiding loss of life. ”We will certainly get through this, but we would like to get through this with nobody getting hurt and that’s a lot more important than property damage,” the mayor said hours before Sandy made landfall. “Our first priority is keeping everybody safe.”

You can shout warnings at people all day long and the reality is that the stubborn ones just won’t listen. Put a tinge of compassion in your speech, though, and it becomes a different story.

Compassion is also an amazing tool for crisis management when people have been inconvenienced, upset or harmed. Whether you’re truly at fault or not, it pays dividends to simply get out there and let people know that you feel their pain. Done properly, you can shift the public’s perception of your organization from the faceless, uncaring giant into a fellow bunch of people who are doing the best they can to make things right.

According to Bernstein Crisis Management president Jonathan Bernstein, quoted in that same article, Bloomberg nailed all of his “Five Tenets of Crisis Communications:”

Bernstein says effective crisis communication has to be prompt, compassionate and honest. It also has to be informative and interactive, and he believes Bloomberg and his team scored top marks on all fronts.

In a time of crisis, Bloomberg and his team came together to give the people what they needed – guidance, protection and information, all in a package that was easily digested by the general public. Kudos!

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

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Crisis Management and Survival Tips for After Sandy

Published on 7th November 2012 by . Leave a Comment

Crisis management advice to protect you from dangerous conditions

With nearly one million people still without power, not to mention the countless displaced by storm damage or flooding from Hurricane Sandy, virtually the entire East Coast is in crisis management mode. Compounding the situation is a wicked nor’easter that’s just entered the area, bringing new loads of snow and heavy winds that are sure to worsen the situation.

Many are still fending for themselves in this extremely harsh environment, but experts across the ‘net have extended a hand and offered up their very best advice for making it through. Here is just a small sample from an excellent list of tips written by Disaster Prep 101′s Paul Purcell:

  1. Protection from the elements.  Late-season hurricanes in the northeast mean folks are without power, and sometimes without windows, roofs, walls, doors, or insulation.  If your house is habitable, keep what doors and windows you have closed, and seal seams with plastic sheets (think shower curtains) and any kind of tape you have.  Simply cutting down on wind works wonders with keeping warm.
  2. Water.  Do NOT try to purify flood waters or any standing water in your area regardless of the claims made on any filter you may have.  Flood water is some nasty stuff.  Use a clean plastic sheet to catch some rain water if any rain is predicted.  Also if a home’s hot water tank was above surge or flood levels, the water in it may be safe to drink.  This also holds true for toilet tanks in upstairs bathrooms provided there is no “bowl cleaner” product used.
  3. Heat.  At night, stay in groups if possible both for warmth and security (a little looting in some areas already).  DO NOT HEAT WITH CHARCOAL INDOORS!  Charcoal is a big carbon monoxide producer and is dangerous indoors.  If safe to do so, use wood from your damaged home to build a small fire outside and a safe distance from flammable material (after listening and smelling for gas leaks).  Use this small fire for cooking, heating as you’re gathered around it, and for heating water for hot water bottles to stay warm at night.  Do not heat an indoor area with steam.  Steam will moisten everything and everyone making things that much colder when the heat wears off.

The ‘net and social media especially are absolutely full of information aimed at getting folks through the storm, let’s do our best to share them with everyone we can as we keep those on the East Coast in our thoughts.

If you’re not affected this time around, it doesn’t mean you won’t be the next. Know the dangers in your area, and take advantage of the resources out there to get prepared before disaster strikes.

The BCM Blogging Team
http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/

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