Journal of business continuity & emergency planning最新文献

Given the numerous active shooter and hostile events (ASHE) happening each year, it is important for fire and emergency medical service (EMS) agencies to share the lessons learned from such events. This paper discusses the elements needed for an effective fire and EMS response, beginning with the unified command/collaboration approach with law enforcement that allows for the proper management of such events. The article further defines the command and control elements, as well as the proper staffing and actions needed from fire and EMS to remove, triage, treat and transport victims effectively.

In 2017, Washington State passed a law requiring life-safety alerts and warnings to be delivered to its residents in languages they understand. In response, King County Emergency Management and its partners developed an inclusive emergency communications plan to address this challenge. A key goal of this plan was the development of a trusted partner network (TPN), run by volunteers from the county's various language and ethnic groups, to relay timely life-safety alerts to their communities, in order to save additional lives and property. This paper outlines the development of the TPN from concept to activation, and shares the lessons learned along the way. It also describes the limitations of the programme and the various factors that jurisdictions should consider before replicating such a programme.

Ransomware attacks are increasing in complexity, scope and frequency. These attacks have had mounting impacts on critical global infrastructures and populations, with significant financial ramifications. This paper underscores the business case for the investment and execution of preparedness efforts to increase the readiness and resilience of business and technology teams. It begins by exploring the present characteristics of ransomware and the landscape of organisational preparedness, as described in various reports cataloguing current and forecasted trends in the field. This is supported by a commentary on recent noteworthy ransomware attacks. Emergency management, crisis management and general business development strategies are then merged to inform and offer actionable solutions for immediate implementation. The paper describes a systematic approach that provides opportunities to embed ransomware preparedness efforts into broader organisational strategies and goals. The business case concludes that investment in ransomware exercises offers additional benefits to organisations and companies, including employee retention and goal attainment.

In 2021, Texas experienced a historic winter storm that paralysed the state. In particular, the city of San Antonio experienced a weather system which, over the span of seven days, created a pattern of cascading issues. This paper describes how the situation forced the San Antonio Fire Department to adapt its policies and procedures to respond to issues and circumstances that were never even thought possible for the area. The paper shows how critical thinking and innovation provided the department the ability to respond to the needs of the residents of San Antonio.

In today's rapidly changing threat environment, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the roles of emergency management (EM) and business continuity (BC) professionals are continuously evolving. Today's EM/BC professional has become more mission-critical than ever, with their position placed under a spotlight as companies of all sizes prepare themselves for the next unknown, but inevitable, crisis. A common problem, however, is that many professionals with the requisite hard skills lack a light touch when it comes to communicating the goals they are striving to achieve. This paper discusses the importance of soft skills for the crisis management guru. The paper lays out which of the multitude of soft skills are the most critical, outlining ways for EM/BC professionals to build, utilise and maintain their soft skills, with case studies that exemplify the use or misuse of such skills.

Wildfires in California have been progressively increasing in duration, intensity and frequency. In response, a number of best practices have been developed for mitigating and responding to fires within the state. This paper describes the lessons learned within core capabilities and describes current practices. Reflections are offered as a consideration and should not be interpreted as standards of practice.

Together, the Finnish National Emergency Supply Agency and Digipool are developing exercises to improve the nation's cyber security. This paper provides examples of these exercises and explains how they contribute to companies' emergency response and business continuity plans. The paper also describes how the model is being developed to further improve continuity and emergency planning in the area of cyber resilience.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the number of employees working from home has increased exponentially. This paper discusses how this shift to remote working has affected enterprise risk management, business continuity management and crisis management over the last couple of years, along with tips, software tools and processes to help manage this impact. The paper also identifies the key functionality required from pertinent software tools, discusses the effects and primary issues associated with such tools, and provides examples of how these tools have been implemented in practice.

The majority of US critical infrastructure is managed and controlled by the private sector. Nearly all commercial and retail banking is operated by private corporations and non-public entities. This reality creates the need for timely information sharing between the public and private sectors to support effective crisis response. This paper explores the current information-sharing environment between the public and private sectors and identifies best practices for improving information sharing between private and public sector organisations.