This blog post discusses the importance of incorporating mass notification into your emergency preparedness plan and it includes a mass notification webinar recording.
When lives or property are at risk, time is always of the essence. While getting the right information to the right people is critical to ensure safety, a thorough emergency preparedness plan that accounts for mass notification isn’t something that every organization has thought through and developed. But when you’re ultimate responsibility as a business owner or the head of an organization is to protect your employees and customers while ensuring business continuity at all times; isn’t it vital to dedicate the time and forethought to develop such a plan?
According to the National Weather Service, weather-related deaths dropped in 2016 to 458, down from 534 in 2015, while weather-related damages in 2016 were more than three times the 2015 total, coming in at $18,438 billion, up from $4,799 billion in 2015. Severe weather impacts every region of North America, especially during the summer months.
Communication before, during and after a weather-related event should be a critical component of any emergency plan.
How will you communicate the information your staff and customers need in order to be safe during such an event? Which medium is best; phone calls, email, text, paging, public address, messaging, or all of the above?
Incorporating mass notification into your overall situational awareness strategy and specifically into your emergency preparedness plan is something you must do. Severe weather is just one example of why this action plan is so important. With a variety of different types of threats such as fire, medical, personal, external and internal to your facility, you owe it to your employees, visitors and customers to be prepared to communicate with them effectively.
Here are some steps to create an emergency preparedness plan:
• Appoint a cross-functional team.
• Inventory your communication assets.
• Outline your existing communication protocols.
• Determine your gaps.
• Strategize about how technology can fill those gaps.
• Engage a provider that can help map the right solution to your specific infrastructure and needs.
A partner like Status Solutions can help you determine the best way to communicate effectively and efficiently when knowing something RIGHT NOW matters the most.
Listen to our webinar about Incorporating Mass Notification into Your Situational Awareness Strategy.
