The Universal Prospective

In a nutshell, it was something that just did not happen to my business or me. Disasters are freaks of nature that just happen. We cant live our lives thinking about things that we cant control. That tree will never hit my house. I live in this beautiful neighborhood with great neighbors. It will never happen here.

In fact, in the past, the common philosophy was, just dealt with-it, no plans, no advance forecast, and no preparations. After the disaster, survivability by scrounging was a way of life. Acquiring what you needed at any cost, such as ice, plastic, construction supplies, etc; and by the way, the prices skyrocketed and new business formed overnight to profit from your misfortunes or lack of planning. Two Words, Hurricane Katrina!

During previous disaster, as a result of anarchy, the U.S. Army and/or National Guard were called in to restore and/or control wrongdoers. Furthermore, the U.S. Military had contingency missions to support national unrest/disasters, restore order, and provide life sustainment support. As a result of this mission, the availability of forces and its manpower assets, the military appeared to be the ideal fit to manage large-scale emergency operations.

Remember the movies, where there were long-lines, soldiers everywhere with weapons and all you needed was water, ice, and charcoal just to support your daily needs? In the back of your mind, you are saying to yourself, I was planning on getting those disaster supplies. Well, its not a movie, its true and maybe you have been there. Lets not discuss insurance. Were you covered? Did you check the detail writing in the bottom left hand corner stating, We will not cover, etc?


Disaster Statistics

According to statistics published by the Association of Records Managers and Administrators, of those businesses that lost their records being disasters: 44 percent NEVER reopened their doors again, and 30 percent of those that DID reopen, failed to survive beyond three years after the disaster.

Trying to operate a business after a disaster is difficult to say the least. Restoring the daily functionality of a business is time consuming and requires planning. Coping with daily management issues, employees, disaster recovery, and lets not forget insurance companies, are more than most can tolerate.

The data on floods and hurricanes are the worst. Senior management must understand the facts; failure to plan statistically cuts your business chance of survival in half.

In 2005, although the death toll from Hurricane Katrina was less than 1,000 people, the loss in life and property makes this one of the worst natural disasters in American history. Coming less than a year after the Great Tsunami that killed about 300,000 people in Asia, this experience has many wondering whether the world is facing much more unpredictable and intense weather, possibly due to global warming. In every disaster, communities and businesses are impacted near and far, directly or indirectly.


Todays Emergency Management
Business Continuity & Emergency Planners

Unfortunately, many Senior Managers may not agree with this statement, but failure to plan for a disaster today may result in costly expenses tomorrow. Contingency

Planners are the backbone of an organization. They effectively prepare your companies and clients to survive disaster (manmade or natural) and continue or resume daily business operation. They may be the key to your business survival. Companies are reducing and downsizing across the board, therefore, understanding your companys Mission Essential Functions (MEF) and the Business Impact Analysis (BIA) are required elements to succeed in todays unstable business environment.

Mission Essential Functions (MEFs) are the critical functions that without the business cannot survive. They consist of those functions that must be performed without unacceptable interruption to achieve the companys critical missions. They include organizational command and control of assets, performing other operations that must be carried out to achieve mission success, receiving, assessing, analyzing, processing, displaying, and disseminating information necessary to perform critical missions and support decision making, and processing vital information for customers, contractions, and employees.

Business Impact Analysis is analysis that identifies the impacts of losing organizational resources. The BIA measures the effect of resource loss and rising losses over time in order to provide an organization with reliable data upon which to make decisions on risk mitigation and continuity planning.


Security & Business Continuity Management

Security is TOP Driven. A superior security program is based on having skilled and capable Security Managers. In the past, an ideal security professional was a retired police officer, prior military or just a young, wanna-be stub. This perspective must change; the quality of your security staff may be the difference in life or death. Disaster management is directly related to security.

Hurricane Katrina is a good example. Was there security or protection in the Dome? Security is the first line of defense for your organizations BCM program. Continuity Management includes securing your faculties and providing your personnel the best possible protection. Having sound security procedures, testing and exercising your security personnel, will make a difference during a disaster. In the event of a disaster, your security personnel are your organizations first responders. Will they know how to perform critical functions prior to your emergency coordinator arrival?

We must also consider the Criminal Elements. Criminals are also evacuated. Hurricane Katrina is an example. Furthermore, people, to conclude, criminals will normally do whats necessary to survive. This element effects all disasters, not just Katrina!


DETERRENCE (Is the Key)

. Desire
2. Means (weapons and tools)
3. Opportunity

Criminals and belligerents usually have both the desire and the means to commit a crime and/or carry out an aggressive act of violence; they may or may not have the opportunity. Sometimes they only have the opportunity if we provide it for them. It is paramount, therefore, that site selection and the security measures employed, work to our advantage in reducing the number of opportunities these elements might find to violate our personnel and/or property.