| If you're in the field of emergency management | | | | organisations would be well aware of this definition |
| or emergency response long enough, you'd | | | | and the exercises that come packaged with it. |
| probably be able to guess that it literally means | | | | Business Continuity Management on the other |
| "Business Continuity Management versus | | | | hand, has its roots starting from the commercial |
| Emergency Management". Nothing anymore | | | | and banking industries, and typically involves an |
| complicated as that. | | | | overall organisation-wide business continuity plan |
| Have you ever come across situations where | | | | and requires various internal stakeholders as well |
| folks in our field (or maybe not) have been using | | | | as its associated vendors to provide a detailed |
| these terms loosely? Having said that, is there | | | | response plan to support the organisation's critical |
| actually a difference between these two? | | | | business objectives (usually decided by senior |
| For starters, we all know that Emergency | | | | management in advance). It conceptualizes that |
| Management typically resides in the field of "fast | | | | main objectives to be fulfilled by the organisation |
| action" emergency response to a given hazard or | | | | in times of identified crises such that its minimum |
| crisis, and involves response plans and standard | | | | service delivery standards will not be overly |
| operating procedures for situations involving fires, | | | | compromised. |
| floods, road traffic accidents, rescue operations, | | | | In a nutshell, that's what these two fields of niche |
| and so on (you get the idea). It is generally a | | | | management are about. And if you're in the field |
| subset or a niche in the management field | | | | of business continuity, you'll be well aware that |
| pertaining to managing emergency response | | | | "emergency management or response" will form |
| situations. Those in the EMT, fire and police | | | | part of your business continuity plan. |