Three months into the year, 2018 has already been rife with disasters— both manmade and natural.
From active shooter situations at schools to rapid flooding and odd weather patterns, emergency management personnel throughout the country are running drills, prepping communication strategies and actively managing difficult situations. Any time there is a lull in the first quarter of the year, it makes sense to do a quick touch-base with your teams to wrap up any loose ends from 2017 and ensure that you’re completely ready for whatever else 2018 has to offer.
Staff Check-In
Having your incident management team at full strength is critical to protecting your community. Everyone should fully understand your systems and be prepared to run drills — either physical or digital. Is your staff ready? Here’s some questions to consider when you’re preparing for potential risks to your community:
- Does the team have scheduled drills prepared to ensure readiness throughout the year?
- Has the team fully tested the communication platform?
- Have new team members been fully trained?
- Are there any gaps in the team that need to be filled?
- Has the team considered new ways to incorporate trained volunteers to expand effectiveness?
- Has the team identified with partner agencies who need to be in the loop?
When your team is up-to-speed on all of these items, you’re one step closer to keeping your community safe in the event of an emergency.
Communications Check-Up
Ensuring that the team is in order is only the first step of a thorough annual review. Your communication system is the backbone of protection in case of an emergency, and allows you to amplify your reach greatly. It’s crucial that your team fully understands how to utilize the system. Make time to create some additional training space for your team. Here’s a few additional steps that will help you keep your communications savvy at a high level, both within your emergency management team and your community as a whole:
- Send a test notification to your community, via all communications channels
- Create a campaign asking community members to update their information for the new year
- Have team members test each other on unique facets of the system, such as building shape files in the mapping interface to target specific areas of the community
- Review and refresh any lists that you have built, to be sure you have the most up-to-date information possible
- Use this opportunity to recruit volunteer leaders from your community
Keeping these tips in mind will ensure that any emergencies will be handled smoothly with a team who fully understands the technology, and a community who respects and sees the value in the communications. If you don’t already have a solid communications strategy in place, download our latest resource below and get started!
Top Six Tactics for Improving Your 2018 Emergency Notification Plan
Emergency notification plans become out of date very quickly. With communities facing threats from severe weather to active shooters, it is clear that plans needs to be regularly evaluated and updated. When was the last time you evaluated your emergency response plan?
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