Preparation and Planning a Crisis Command and Control Centre As Part of an Emergency Response Plan

A crisis can take on many forms such as industrialanalyze data, make decisions that protect life and
accidents where a number of people areproperty, maintain continuity of the company
affected, plant damaged and construction siteswithin the scope of applicable directives and
affected. Natural risks such as fires, earthquakes,communicate the decisions to all concerned.
etc. can also result in a crisis. Additionally a crisisThe crisis command and control centreThe crisis
can be as a result of man made risks such as aircommand and control centre should be equipped
or water pollution, toxic waste spills, collapses, etc.with the following items:
The other risk that can and normally does result- The physical structure should be sound and
in a crisis is the threats associated with terrorist.comply with good building standards and should
Protecting the company's reputation, commercialnot be constructed in a place where it has an
viability, employees and other key business assetsoutside wall.
and stakeholders in the face of extreme,- The air conditioning, fire detection and protection
complex, unpredictable, and constantly changingsystems as well as the computer installations
risks is an ongoing challenge that can only becontained in the crisis command and control
effectively done if one is appropriately prepared.centre should comply with standards that require
The creation of an emergency responsethem to be independent of other systems to
management plan to deal with these treatsprevent them from being affected by an on site
involves developing a three phase strategy thatcrisis.
will indicate how a company and its affiliates- The crisis command and control centre must be
should respond to a crisis. The preparation shouldfor the exclusive use during a crisis and should not
also include the creation of appropriatebe used for any other general purpose in the
infrastructure for the purpose.absence of a crisis.
The development and construction of an- A standby power generator that will
emergency response management plan andautomatically kick in and should have a capacity
infrastructure will give a company a competitiveand reliability that will ensure sufficient power to all
advantage by protecting their reputation, keycommunication, data and lighting requirements
business assets, employees and othereven in cases where there is a total power failure
stakeholders. This however is an ongoing challengefor a long duration of time.
that can only be sufficiently dealt with if the- Secure access control that will allow only
company is appropriately prepared. To wait until aauthorized staff to enter should be ensured.
crisis occurs could be disastrous to the continued- Visual display units that are connected to a
existence of the company and is much morecommunication system that will allow the
expensive than investing in developing andcompany executive team to be able to visually
constructing a complete solution that includes plansfollow the development of the crisis from the
and infrastructure to deal with it when it happens.crisis control room.
A complete solution includes components that- Suitable, reliable and secure communications
addresses strategic as well as tactical requirement.systems that can be used to communicate with
The ideal crisis management system should coverthe crisis site as well as government agencies and
the three main phases of a crisis situation. Theseother interested and affected parties should be in
are:place.
- crisis prevention- A speaker system attached to communication
- crisis managementdevises that will allow a team approach in
- crisis recovery The preparation and planningcommunication is a necessity.
needs to be comprehensive, consistent and- An independent secure fax machine is a must.
integrated in order to ensure an efficient plan that- A recording system that records all voice
will be able to be invoked successfully when thecommunication into and out of the crisis command
crisis hits.and control centre should be installed and records
The company's executive team will be responsibleshould be kept for a period of at least 12 months
for all aspects of a response to a crisis. This willafter any activity in the centre.
include developing incident objectives, providing- A suitable number of desks, tables and lockable
suitable and sufficient plans and infrastructure andcupboards should permanently furnish the crisis
managing all incident operations to bring the crisiscommand and control centre.
under control and implement the strategies to- Copies of all sites based emergency response
return to normality.plans of the company and its affiliate must be
The crisis management plan and infrastructureavailable in the centre. These plans should include
needs to be able to be sufficient to deal with allsections on emergency contact details, duty
three phases of the crisis. This includes therosters and emergency team member
following:information.
Before the crisis (crisis prevention)- A planning board where staff allocated specific
The systems and infrastructure should be able totasks in relation to the emergency organization
collect and process data on a ongoing basisshould be available and display updated information.
allowing for the monitoring of potential disasters in- A cupboard that contains the appropriate
order to warn management when predefinedidentification insignia to clearly identify the roles of
criteria or warning levels are reached that couldall the staff present in the control room should be
indicate a crisis is imminent. Critical data should beincluded in the centre.
analyzed constantly and any unusual trend should- A dedicated copier for the sole use during a
be detected and when analysis indicates that acrisis is necessary.
crisis is anticipated management should be alerted.- A crisis log book where a scribe can record the
This should also be the point when the generalactivities taking place during the crisis.
alert level is adjusted and published in theAfter the crisis (crisis recovery)
company. The information should include security,The crisis control plan should include a requirement
safety and health items as well as the interactionto develop and implement a crisis recovery
of these issues. The focus areas should include atstrategy once the crisis has been brought under
least people, buildings, plant, systems andpractical control.
processes.ConclusionAny amount of planning cannot prevent
During the crisis (crisis management)The key toall emergencies. It is however a fact that with the
managing a crisis once it hit a company is to haveappropriate plan and infrastructure in place the
a dedicated crisis command and control center.impact and consequences of emergencies can be
The crisis command and control centre serves asdrastically reduces. It should be noted that a crisis
a secure location from where the company'scommand and control centre that is not
executives who is responsible for the strategicsupported with a suitable and sufficient
resolution of the crisis can obtain a big picture toemergency response plan that is based on a
evaluate and provide direction to the crisis site.formal threat assessment could provide a false
The primary functions of the executive teamsense of security.
during an emergency are to collect, gather and