Emergency Response & Preparedness Planning
Security goes beyond IT. Protect your employees from physical danger.
In today's world, security is a buzzword we hear about especially when it's related to IT. The latest virus, hacks and data breaches are regularly in the news and organizations are working to protect against these IT threats. However, we should also remind ourselves that, as employers, we need to protect our employees from physical harm and other security threats.
Recently, one of our clients experienced an active shooter on their campus. Fortunately, our client had formed a committee in the months prior for Emergency Response & Preparedness planning and had developed an Emergency Code System. On this particular day, one of The Walker Group's engineers had been on-site at this client when a "Code Silver" was declared. All of the staff in the 600-employee campus immediately knew what the code was and took action to lock down, secure and protect themselves. In the end, thankfully, there was no loss of life or injuries as a result of the event. The issue was handled effectively with law enforcement and everyone was able to return to work safely.
It was certainly a scary phone call to receive from my employee that day, but I was relieved and thankful that he was safe. Not only that, I was extremely grateful that this organization had taken the time in the months prior to develop, roll out and educate staff on their Emergency Code System. Using a system like this allows an organization to quickly and efficiently communicate a potential threat and the severity of that threat to all employees. No precious time is lost haphazardly communicating down the chain of managers across the organization. Instead, everyone knows exactly what to do and who and what they are responsible for when the Emergency Code is declared. It was a huge reminder for me personally that day that we need to protect more than just our organization's data from cyber threats; we need to adequately plan and prepare so that we can protect our employees' physical safety as well.
If you are interested in rolling out an Emergency Code System at your organization, please check out this site to learn more:
https://nhcps.com/emergency-preparedness-response-health-care-guide-emergency-codes/
written by:
Todd Bailey
Todd Bailey, Managing Partner at The Walker Group, has an extensive technical and business background in the areas of IT Infrastructure and Management, Service Delivery, Cybersecurity and Marketing. He is a passionate problem solver dedicated to continuous improvement, best-in-class service delivery and optimizing technology and business operations for all of The Walker Group's clients.
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