As painful as it is to replay in our minds the recent terror bombing in Manchester, crisis planners are obligated to study it. Two lessons jump out: Lesson 1: Outside perimeters, by definition, are not secure Without having to pass through any sort of security screening, terrorists view outside perimeters of buildings, auditoriums, stadiums, crowded…
The United States and Canada have a long history of working together to ensure that, should there be a major incident, frameworks exist to enable joint response, across the international boundary. In 2016, total bilateral trade in goods and services exceeded $635 billion USD, a large portion of which occurs cross border via trucking and…
Business continuity is an integral part of any organization. Those that do it well invest in their people and ultimately in the security of the organization’s future. Those that don’t do it well, and those that don’t do it at all, run the risk of creating an environment that is not only unstable, but that…
Photo Credit – Sebastien Wiertz via Flickr Rob Burton recently wrote and article titled “3 Steps to an Effective Crisis Management Briefing Cycle“, where he discusses his 3 step approach that will help you achieve a comprehensive briefing cycle process. His three steps are: Planning and Documenting Disciplined Discussion Actions Rob was also featured in the latest…
There are many skills and personal traits that leaders should have in everyday business. During a crisis, a leader needs to have a range of specific traits that are crucial to the management of the incident. Here are three of those traits based on my personal experience from both the military and corporate environments: 1…
In those first few moments of a fast-paced incident, it is essential that the Crisis Management Team (CMT) comes together quickly in an organized and disciplined manner. It is in these early stages of the incident when discipline is incredibly important. If discipline is lacking in the early stages of an incident, the management of…
On October 25, 2011, Jessica Buchanan and a colleague were kidnapped at gunpoint by Somali land pirates and held for 93 days, enduring the most harrowing and painful experience of her life. On the day of her kidnapping, she silently said to herself, “Some do come out alive, the numbers are small but they do…
1. The Master Events Log The MEL (Master Events Log) is an essential document that can help the crisis team document the incident as soon as it starts to unfold. The MEL is a document that should be filled out by a scribe who usually is in close coordination with the crisis leader. The document…
When you establish your crisis management capability, conduct crisis management exercises, or actually go through crises, what are the most common issues or gaps that are uncovered? Within this article, I define a few of the more common issues that we see when conducting simulation exercises within the corporate space as well as reviewing reports…
Communities are not just made up of homes and apartments. Many communities have businesses that provide jobs and other services to those communities. Major cities have businesses that are heavily integrated into their communities and so do some smaller cities and even towns. It’s imperative that businesses understand their communities and it is equally important…