Part 2 -Time to prepare and communicate


For any potential crisis away from home soil, whether terrorist, natural disaster or plague, all sorts of precautions and preparations are required, and this is not the article to rehearse all of those. However, just for illustration in this particular crisis, it is sensible to identify or even contract with one or more medical air evacuation companies, preferably one based in the developed country where the corporate client is headquartered. Such companies can not only offer the obvious practical support but will also be up to speed with the latest national, or even sub national, rules affecting the arrival of suspected or actual Ebola victims, or even those who just happen to have returned from an area that might have been affected.


They will also know what the alternatives are if the primary destination is not accepting such people. With that thought in mind, you may recall Nurse Kaci Hickox, who returned to her home in Maine after treating people in Sierra Leone, to an enforced quarantine despite having no identifiable symptoms and a negative test. The Governor of Maine was pursuing legal action to have her isolated at home, even while she was defying the ban and cycling to and from the shops accompanied by a cavalcade of reporters.


Amusingly as the story was portrayed, there was a serious message: people can be scared easily, and, who knows, sometimes with good cause. Fear can undermine common sense unless the community, whether of a nation or of a company, is informed using clear communications backed by demonstrable risk assessment and risk mitigation measures.


The State of Maine was a response ‘guinea pig’ in this story, and cannot be blamed for working with the best information available at the time, but with hindsight how much better it would have been had it stated the following clearly in advance:


• If people needed to travel or work in or near an Ebola affected area, then they should register in advance with the authorities, with a timetable


• If people came back from such an area, then they needed to register


© CI TY S ECURI TY MAGAZ INE – WINT ER 2015


• A statement of what those countries and areas were, and what constituted ‘near’ an affected area


• What different precautions and protection they should take in or near an Ebola area


• What jobs and tasks were at highest risk


• What compulsory testing they would have on return and should have before return


• What precautions they should take on return even if tested negative, and for how long


• What level of identified risk in Maine, or in any area of Maine, would trigger an advisory quarantine, a home quarantine, a full quarantine, or even a ban on return


• What would happen if there were a ban on return.


The risk assessment would be informed by experience: how many cases; the provenance of such cases; the capability to contain an


we all took to the various Avian flu and MERS threats, and that many companies are still taking. The response was and is considered to be a business continuity one. That approach identifies triggers and consequent responses.


For example, as a simplified illustration, if there is an outbreak somewhere in the world and if there is a chance that it could affect our company, we review our plans. If one person catches the virus in one of our countries we increase our precautions and advice.


outbreak and how


quickly; the realistic likelihood, nature and impact of the spread of Ebola from one case, two cases, ten cases, a hundred cases or more in


Maine. And so on. If all knew the required response in advance, then most people would agree and comply. Most people would know and accept that a new problem like Ebola required an element of untested planning, but the information given out in advance would be the key to a manageable response by the authorities.


At the time of that event, about 5,000 had died of the disease in West Africa, but only nine had been treated for the virus anywhere in the USA. From a risk perspective that and the other factors, even including that she was an Ebola nurse and that the 21 day incubation period had not ended, might have caused the authorities to judge that the risk of an outbreak was too low for a full home quarantine, and that the risk to close family members was best handled by close family common sense.


To put that into a corporate context, one has to look not much further than the approach


www. c i t y s e cur i t yma ga z ine . com


If there is an outbreak elsewhere in the country, we start to thin out the staff so that some non-essentials work at home. If the outbreak comes nearer to us, then we open up a recovery building and split the key staff between there and HQ. Next step: split up the key staff further and send some of them to work from home. And, the rest of the story will be familiar to many, we head towards a close down, passing whatever key functions we can to our offices, factories and distribution centres in other cities or countries. All that needs to be in place with people informed, briefed, trained and tested well in advance. The Ebola threat demands the same approach; the difference is mainly in the perception that Avian flu is ‘familiar’ and Ebola is a particularly nasty way to go.


We are committed to working with our clients to deliver the most effective training, preparation, and business continuity solutions that enable maximum flexibility, whilst maintaining and protecting the workforce to ensure that business can continue in the most effective and efficient manner.


Written jointly by Jamie Milnes and Richard Lovell-Knight, directors respectively of Hasta (UK) Ltd and Pilgrims Group Ltd.


The two companies have been working jointly for some months, using their respective capabilities to prepare and train clients to minimise the risks of their operations in or near Ebola affected areas.


> 11


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36