Emergency Preparedness – more than just dialing 911. [1] After 40 years of Emergency Preparedness consulting, we at MRS know why three quarters of the Business Recovery Plans we see are sadly lacking. [2] Five reasons: [3]

1. Disaster Planning is expensive [1] 2. There’s no real payback unless you have a disaster [2] 3. It requires significant staff time [3] 4. It’s always the lowest priority, unless the auditors are coming [4] 5. Lack of executive commitment [5]

Most CEO’s are generally risk takers by nature, so they bet on the very low odds of a disaster ever happening to them. [1] That makes Emergency Preparedness the lowest of the low priorities. These are the stumbling blocks that de-rail even the best intentions almost every time. [2]

Yet, preparing for an emergency is a prudent thing to do[1]. There are more threats in today’s environment than ever before. [2] A changing climate is creating new weather patterns that deliver crippling storms. [3] Internet attacks frequent the news. [4] Active shooter is a terrifying phrase of this decade. [5] So why not take steps toward Emergency Preparedness? It doesn’t have to be expensive if approached logically. [6]

Because Emergency Preparedness involves every staff member, it crosses all organizational boundaries. [1] This means that whoever is tagged with the responsibility, has to have some organizational clout as well as resources to do the job. [2] You can’t pick some lowly Computer Operations person and expect them to get corporate cooperation. [3] Getting the job done can be challenging. It takes valuable staff time, but it isn’t rocket science, it’s a learning experience.[4]

Staff members learn how to respond to crisis situations by practicing and testing their responses, [1] which builds a level of confidence and reassurance [2] as well as preparing the organization for the worst. [3]

Often, it spills over into their family lives when they start thinking about emergencies and what to do. [1] These are some of the positive effects of embracing Emergency Preparedness. [2]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency teaches us that Emergency Preparedness consists of two types of activities following a disaster: Response and Recovery. [1] These activities are performed by different groups of people and involve different resources. [2] Response starts with 911 relying on rapid communication. [3] It unrolls over the next several hours, working into Recovery. [4] In Business Continuity Planning or BCP, we separate Recovery activities into Infrastructure Recovery (power, computing, communication, facilities) and Departmental Recovery, or Business Unit Recovery. [5]

Response happens first, then Infrastructure Recovery followed by Departmental Recovery. [1] Departmental Recovery involves recovering the most critical Business Processes preventing loss. [2] So a good BCP has Emergency Response instructions, Infrastructure Recovery plans and Departmental Recovery plans for every location. [3] Obviously, these plans need to be exercised and kept updated. [4]

We’ve built a tool based on these principles that implements a complete Business Continuity Planning solution. [1] It’s main focus is ease of use and minimum staff time. [2] It’s a collaborative website with 40 years of experience built into it. [3] If you’ve never done Emergency Preparedness before or need to start over, this tool will save you time and money and meet all your Business Continuity needs. [4]

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