The Importance of Personal Contingency Plans for Emergencies
The personal contingency plan is especially important for those living or working in major cities, such as New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The large numbers of people crowded into small areas and the limited escape routes make those in major cities vulnerable to panic and confusion during a mass evacuation or other emergency.
Government security agencies and private businesses have developed plans for evacuating public buildings, hotels and office buildings in the event of an emergency. Many buildings in New York City, for example, have assembled emergency kits — including a blanket, flashlight, whistle, non-perishable foodstuffs, water and, in some cases, smoke hoods — that they make available to occupants in the event of an evacuation. In most cases, however, the responsibility of building operators and security agencies ends once the buildings are evacuated. Indeed, little thought is given to what happens to the occupants once the buildings are empty.
At the very least, those who have developed a plan will be less panicked and confused than those who have left their fate to chance. Perhaps the best reason for having a personal plan, however, is to reduce one’s own endangerment. Jihadists who likely followed the May 10 event in Washington, D.C., could have gained information from this false alarm on points of vulnerability, and could use the knowledge in a possible future attempt to stage attacks in the D.C. area. For instance, a plane could be sent as a decoy to set in motion the mass evacuation. Then, when a large mass of people gathers in the streets, a bomb could be detonated, causing heavy casualties.
Personal protection details and others responsible for the security of executives and VIPs should develop contingency plans for the home office, and for occasions on which the executive is traveling. When designing such a plan, it is best to assume that communications will be interrupted or unavailable. In addition, similar considerations should be given to the potential lack of public transportation and electricity. If ground transportation is available, a nearby safe haven outside the city should be pre-arranged and equipped for a lengthy stay. Other people can make personal plans tailored to their particular situation.
It is important to recognize that even a good contingency plan can be worthless if protective measures taken by authorities during an emergency impede execution of the plan. For example, bridges and tunnels might be closed, and streets blocked off or jammed with traffic, meaning one might not be able to travel to safety or to pick up family members or coworkers. Those whose plan calls for a flight out of the city might be unable to get to the airport or helipad and, once there, find that air traffic has been grounded, as happened after the Sept. 11 attacks. For these reasons, it is best to have several alternate contingency plans that account for multiple scenarios and include various evacuation routes. Once the emergency is announced, it likely is too late to start devising a plan.
When an employee is traveling, the plan also should be coordinated with the home office, so executives will have a basic idea as to the location of that person and of what is being done in the affected city. Even if movement and communication are impossible, having a plan that has been coordinated with the home office will be better than reacting to events as they happen.
Coordinating these plans with coworkers and family members also will ease a great deal of stress, especially if the plan includes pre-arranged meeting points in the event that the office or home is affected by the emergency. The Department of Homeland Security maintains a Web site at www.ready.gov that can assist private citizens and businesses in developing such a plan.
Should a real emergency arise, situational awareness is the first step in dealing with the threat or in making an escape. Those who want to make the best of an emergency will quickly assess the situation, determine which contingency plan will work best — and act.
