ASIS Seminars Show How To Prepare For Worst-Case Scenarios

• By Megan Weadock
• Sep 17, 2007

Emergency situations, from the shootings at Virginia Tech to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, still surprise people by happening unexpectedly in unlikely places. That is why, no matter where a business is located or how few threats it has encountered in the past, everyone needs to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

By creating a company-wide crisis plan, employees will know exactly what to do when an emergency situation forms. As members of the security industry, attendees of this year’s ASIS know the importance of preparation. To help security professionals and businesses recognize and prepare for emergency threats, ASIS is featuring numerous educational seminars on how to prepare for -- and survive -- a crisis situation.

On Monday, Sept. 24, alone, ASIS will present three such seminars, ranging from beginner to advanced, aimed at preparing businesses for emergencies. At 11 a.m., Cap. Werner Preining from Interpool Security Ltd. will present “How to Survive the First 48 Hours of a Disaster,” which will include the skills needed to draft personal emergency plans, taking region, personal data and other criteria into consideration.

From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., Jeffrey Slotnick, president of Setracon Inc., will discuss how to prepare employees for the threat of crime, terrorism and disaster in “The Future of Security Training.”

In the meantime, David G. Patterson with the Steele Foundation will get into specifics as he discusses business continuity planning in the face of an avian flu threat. This epidemic would have a major impact on the workforce as a whole -- it is predicted that up to 30 percent of employees would be too sick to work.