June 2007

Got Plans? Get Practice!

By Chris M. Kormis

Fire drills. We have been practicing those since elementary school, when we would file out of the building in a single line, regroup behind the playground, and the teacher would take attendance to make sure everyone left the building. By the time we reached fifth grade, students would be relaxed and smiling during the drills. Why were they at ease with whistles blowing and alarms blaring? Because through the years of practice, they felt comfortable and secure with the school’s emergency plan. They knew where to go and what to do.

Does your department have emergency plans? Do you understand your department’s emergency plans? Would you feel comfortable implementing those plans? For the past two years, the University’s Office of Business Operations (OBO) has been exercising its contingency and continuity of operations plans on a quarterly basis.

In January, the Dean of Students Office and other departments within the Division of Student and Academic Support Services joined with OBO for two exercises in the Marvin Center’s Continental Ballroom that tested their plans. In the morning, while half of the staff attended the practice session, the other half conducted business as usual. In the afternoon, they switched places. By the end of the day, more than 100 people responded to “Out in the Cold,” a severe winter weather-based practice session conducted by GW’s Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management (OPSEM).

“We are building the confidence and self-esteem of the people who perform in these exercises based on the efforts they have put in to their plans,” says John Petrie, assistant vice president for public safety and emergency management. “We also identify what I would refer to as the seams of the planning process. We can frequently find things that are not anticipated by the plan, or that affect two plans where they intersect. Then we identify the coordination issues required to make a response most effective.”

According to Petrie, all exercises have led to improvements in plans. “We have identified weak points, single points of failure, issues where the plans can benefit from additional details.”

“Exercises aren’t designed to embarrass anyone,” says Christine Peterson, emergency management associate. “The exercise process has produced consistently stronger performances by the teams participating in them.”
When preparing to exercise your plans, Petrie suggests to first walk, not run. All participants should understand the expectations in terms of their roles and responsibilities. Next, he says, conduct a tabletop exercise to expand your understanding of the plans and to test their validity.

“You can run a tabletop exercise based on three generic questions and allow people to discuss the questions,” says Petrie. “You should ask: What
are my responsibilities? Who do I communicate with? What do they need to know?”

All GW departments should have two types of plans—contingency plans and continuity of operations plans. Contingency plans outline your immediate response to an emergency—how you should evacuate and where you regroup with your colleagues; if sheltering in place, where you should shelter in place and what supplies you’ll need to shelter in place. Continuity of operations plans explain how you will continue to fulfill your job duties if an incident has impacted your normal business operation. Both plans are equally important.

Learn which plans are intended to protect you and the functions that constitute your job. Departments in need of plans or interested in exercising their plans, should contact the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management at opsem@gwu.edu. Eight emergency management associates are available to provide assistance. Planning resources also are available on the Campus Advisories Web site (http://campusadvisories.gwu.edu) and in the University’s Incident Manual, which can be accessed through the Campus Advisories Web site. After you have draft plans, contact OPSEM for review of your plans to ensure they do not conflict with another department’s plans. Review your plan at least once a year to ensure they are still valid.

Becoming familiar with your plans and how they work is empowering and builds confidence. When you next hear sirens or alarms in your building, you can feel confident in your knowledge of how to respond.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu