There are very few people in the world or the United States who are
not vulnerable in their homes or businesses to one type of disaster
or another.
Disaster strikes generally when least expected and not at all
prepared for and can have devastating consequences in the toll of
human lives, property damage, and the ruin of businesses.
Prepare a disaster plan for your home and business in order to
maintain as much control of things in this situation as possible.
Home or business invasions should first focus on everyone getting
out of the house. |
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Whether or not the
invader is in the house when this is discovered - the first
order of business needs to be to insure the safety of everyone in
the home or business.
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Establish an email list in order
to contact those that may be displaced
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For both homes and
businesses it is best to establish a rendezvous point
for this specific situation.
Make sure every family member or employee knows where he
or she should meet everyone else in the case of a break
in. |
For families with small children it
should be something as simple as a neighbor's house. For businesses
it can be wherever you feel there is a large enough space to
accommodate everyone that will need to meet.
Businesses should also
have a phone call protocol established of those who should be able
to call those who do not need to be present initially. This can
avoid overwhelming the situation and location with too many people
asking questions and wanting answers all at once.
For fires and weather related disasters, home and businesses need to
have an emergency plan in place (this should be different in
hurricane regions according to the long range predictions and
uncertainty of not only the routes of hurricanes but the amount of
damage that can lie in their wake).
If emergencies such as fires or
tornadoes occur during regular office hours every employee should
know where to go for protection and/or escape. The same holds true
for homes. Families with small children should practice disaster
drills at various times during the night and day in order to make
sure children know innately what to do in case of emergency and do
not panic and forget when and if the crucial time should ever
prevent itself.
Knowledge saves lives in situations such as this and
having a clearly defined and understood avenue for escape can be
critical in a situation such as this.
More than giving workers and family members a clearly defined route
to take when disaster strikes, having a designated and specific plan
for emergencies also gives them a sense of purpose that will often
override the traditional sense of panic.
Hurricane plans are slightly different. Hurricanes present a fairly unique dilemma because they can literally devastate
entire regions with the totality of their destruction. In these
instances, information is needed to get out quickly to employees and
family members that not only allows them to know who is safe but
also the status of work, coworkers, and home and hearth.
Establish an email list in order to contact those that may be
displaced and to allow all who have an interest to know what the
situation at home, work, etc. may be. Use the opportunity to let them know the situation and
give them the option of returning (if they are ready and prepared)
or taking the time off necessary in order to get their homes and
lives in order. All in all having a plan is the best way to go.
... Richard Rossbauer |
