EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS
witnessed over the last few years in North Africa and the Middle East, it should be pre-determined at what point to evacuate individuals based on understanding the locality, history of protests, size of gatherings and the point at which violence could occur .
“THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEOLOGY OF ANY CONTINGENCY PLANNING IS TO PLAN FOR THE EFFECT, NOT THE CAUSE. A BUSINESS MUST CONSIDER THE MAJOR EVENT THAT HAS LED TO THE CRISIS.”
their employees or overburdens the country’s ability to protect, feed and house its citizens.
Occasionally, there are other signs of hazard. These include gradual decline in services, shortages in goods or services, capital flight, increased government travel restrictions or decreased internal security. In these situations, the need for an emergency response can be less clean cut. Any decision to evacuate must be carefully considered, especially if the element of risk is thought to be temporary as order may be restored within a short period of time. A decision to evacuate is advisable only if it appears that the incident could be prolonged or if it poses an immediate threat to an employee.
In the event of a major incident, pre-agreed ‘trigger points’ will dictate what action should be taken at particular points of the crisis unfolding. For example, if the situation relates to political instability, as
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Intelligence forms a key component in providing an accurate and proportionate response. Anvil’s teams of analysts continually monitor numerous sources, including professional networks, government and foreign ministry notifications, embassy and consulate websites, medical networks and alarm centres, advisory councils and expatriate networks. Knowledge is power in such situations, and by close and continual monitoring, risk can be dramatically minimised.
HOW TO REACT Following a major incident that directly or indirectly impacts on personnel, there are a series of steps that should be taken straightaway. Businesses should immediately identify personnel who may be affected or at risk within the country, whilst also contacting individuals who may be en-route to the impacted area and take measures to alert and divert them. Following this, requirements to evacuate or move individuals to safety should be thoroughly assessed.
Once this information has been ascertained, assistance can then be implemented in line with agreed crisis management protocols or from an emergency action plan. In the first instance, this would likely involve the deployment of Anvil security specialists. Recent high- risk evacuations have been carried out successfully from Burkina Faso, Tunisia, South Sudan, the Philippines and Egypt.
In an emergency situation, it helps enormously if employees have previously been trained, and practiced, in emergency protocols to ensure they understand what actions to take during an incident. Risk can escalate quickly when the business and travellers are unaware of the appropriate actions. It’s common for employees to do what they think is right, but could actually place them more directly in harm’s way. In addition, it is essential to ensure clear lines of communication between as few people as possible during management of the incident, so that directions do not become confused. Calls should be convened between these interested parties at regular intervals and at least once a day if the incident is ongoing, so that nothing is missed.
PRIOR PLANNING The rapid advancement of modern technology over recent years, such as Anvil’s industry leading travel monitoring and device tracking solutions, have empowered corporations to better understand their traveller footprint and streamline communications, especially during a major incident, thus ensuring a more accurate and faster coordination of assets to ensure a proportionate response.
Ultimately, the more prepared an organisation is, the quicker it can respond with pro-active actions to manage an incident. When there is no framework in place, or an incident is mismanaged, it has the potential to escalate into a crisis. Few businesses realise just how essential this is until something goes wrong. Every internationally operating business should have a robust strategy in place to protect their personnel from the risks that we all hope won’t occur.
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