Getting Out Safely

Getting Out Safely

Four ways to improve your plan already in place

School safety and security concerns continue to drive planning activity across the sountry, while similar plans are being created by hospitals, government and retail locations. Many of these plans include the concept of a "lockdown" situation to twart an intruder or attacker, and protect the occupants from harm.

What to do after a lockdown has been initiated is an equally important part of the plan. During a lockdown, first responders and authorities on the scene work to confirm and contain the threat, and then to neutralize it. Depending on the specific circumstances, they may take action to evacuate some or all occupants to safety while the threat is still active or when the threat has ended.

How lockdowns and evacuations are handled depends largely on planning and practice. Officials must have a solid plan in place, effectively communicate that plan to teachers, students, first responders and other stakeholders, and conduct drills periodically to ensure that proper procedures are followed in an actual emergency situation.

There is no “one size fits all” protocol for lockdowns and evacuations that works for every school or organization. Each plan must reflect differences in building layout, proximity to other buildings or residences, the capabilities of local first responders, and much more.

In developing an evacuation plan, there are four key elements leadership can include to improve the plan’s effectiveness.

COLLABORATION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT

It is vital to consult with local law enforcement officials for advice on crisis planning and to get a firm understanding of their processes for evacuation or clearing a location. These individuals can be a valuable resource for developing an effective plan, as they have been through extensive training specifically for these situations, including best practices for evacuation.

In an emergency situation, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other first responders will be heavily involved, so it’s important that organizations’ evacuation plans reflect law enforcement policies. This will ensure a smoother and safer process, should that become necessary.

Law enforcement and other responders should be part of emergency drills. While this may seem like an obvious part of the planning process, a General Accountability Office study found that more than a quarter of schools have never practiced their plans with emergency responders.

Without collaboration between organizations, law enforcement and public safety, there is an increased risk for mistakes to be made in an emergency, which could potentially lead to disastrous outcomes.

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

By providing first responders with a direct connection to the status system, organizations can provide these individuals with a clear picture of an ongoing situation, including where a threat is located, where occupants are located and the status of those occupants. This enhanced situational awareness will allow responders to properly plan an evacuation that will allow occupants to avoid risk while exiting the building more efficiently.

PRIVATE TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION

Communication is essential in any emergency situation, and can determine the success of a response. Building occupants need to be kept up to date on an incident, how it is unfolding and what, if any, action they will need to take. They must know if the situation should change from a lockdown to an evacuation or if an evacuation plan must be altered as quickly as possible.

In many facilities—most notably schools—building-wide communication is handled via intercom. However, in the case of an active shooter or other intruder who is in the building, intercoms are out of the question because any communication would also provide information about procedures and actions to that individual.

A private, two-way communication system can solve this problem. The ability to maintain contact with locked-down areas enables updates and will help with the evacuation process without alerting an intruder.

BROAD-BASED PREPARATION

An emergency situation can occur at any moment and for a variety of reasons. Developing a plan with only one potential emergency in mind is limited thinking that can cause serious problems. For example, active shooter situations are in many ways the impetus behind implementation of lockdown and evacuation plans. However, there are other serious events that could warrant lockdown and/or evacuation, including weather conditions, circumstances within the community, and more. Failure to consider multiple hazard types can lead to improper response, which can cause a situation to escalate into a deadly event.

For these reasons, it makes sense for an organization to develop tiered lockdown and evacuation levels and clearly communicate specific events or types of events that would trigger each level of response. It is also vital to designate a nearby space where occupants can gather upon leaving the building to ensure everyone is accounted for. When determining this, it’s important to make sure a location is large enough to accommodate all building occupants and will also be safe in a range of conditions and hazards.

Organizations that include these four keys in their security plans will be in the best position to work with first responders to evacuate occupants safely during or immediately following a lockdown. Conducting drills periodically will further strengthen lockdown and evacuation plans and procedures, and will increase the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of those plans should a crisis occur.

This article originally appeared in the January 2016 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • Survey: 54% of Organizations Cite Technical Debt as Top Hurdle to Identity System Modernization

    Modernizing identity systems is proving difficult for organizations due to two key challenges: decades of accumulated Identity and Access Management (IAM) technical debt and the complexity of managing access across multiple identity providers (IDPs). These findings come from the new Strata Identity-commissioned report, State of Multi-Cloud Identity: Insights and Trends for 2025. The report, based on survey data from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), highlights trends and challenges in securing cloud environments. The CSA is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. Read Now

  • Study: Only 35 Percent of Companies Include Cybersecurity Teams When Implementing AI

    Only 35 percent of cybersecurity professionals or teams are involved in the development of policy governing the use of AI technology in their enterprise, and nearly half (45 percent) report no involvement in the development, onboarding, or implementation of AI solutions, according to the recently released 2024 State of Cybersecurity survey report from ISACA, a global professional association advancing trust in technology. Read Now

  • New Report Series Highlights E-Commerce Threats, Fraud Against Retailers

    Trustwave, a cybersecurity and managed security services provider, recently released a series of reports detailing the threats facing the retail sector, marking the second year of its ongoing research into these critical security issues. Read Now

  • Stay Secure in 2024: Updated Cybersecurity Tips for the Office and at Home

    Cyber criminals get more inventive every year. Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve and are a moving target for business owners in 2024. Companies large and small need to employ cybersecurity best practices throughout their organization. That includes security integrators, manufacturers, and end users. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises. 3

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3