Tips for Preparing for Unexpected Planning Challenges

Emergencies are unavoidable—fires, floods, shootings, cyberattacks. The only thing worse than an emergency is being unprepared for it. Just ask yesterday's "Worst Employer" nominee. A well-crafted Emergency Action Plan (EAP) keeps everyone safe and your business running. Here's 10 things to consider in creating one: 1./ Assess Your Risks Identify the emergencies most likely to hit you—whether natural disasters, workplace violence, or data breaches. Prioritize based on impact and likelihood. 2./ Get Employee Input Your employees are on the front lines and often spot risks management misses. Including their insights builds a better plan and fosters buy-in. 3./ Assign Clear Responsibilities Who calls 911? Who initiates evacuations? Everyone should know their role before an emergency strikes to avoid confusion in the heat of the moment. 4./ Map Out Evacuation Plans Chart exits, evacuation routes, and assembly points. Make sure everyone can evacuate safely, including employees with disabilities. 5./ Establish Communication Channels Use multiple methods—emails, texts, and phone trees. Keep clients, vendors, and other stakeholders informed, too. 6./ Stock Emergency Supplies First-aid kits, fire extinguishers, and flashlights are must-haves. Regularly check supplies so nothing fails in a real emergency. 7./ Plan for Business Continuity Know which processes must keep running and how to do it—whether remote work, cloud backups, or backup vendors. 8./ Stay Compliant Verify if OSHA or other laws require specific elements in your plan. Non-compliance can mean fines. 9./ Train, Drill, and Support Your Team Hold regular drills, offer training refreshers, and provide mental health support after stressful events. 10./ Debrief, Report, and Improve After every emergency or drill, debrief with your team. File necessary incident reports for OSHA or insurance. Assign someone to review and update the plan regularly. Emergencies aren't predictable, but your preparation should be. A well-thought-out EAP protects your people and helps your business bounce back as quickly and easily as possible.

Over the years of working in Protective Medicine and Executive Protection, I've put together a checklist that works for me, and may help you ensure your emergency response plans actually work when you need them most: 1️⃣ 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀:  What could go wrong? Natural disasters? Medical emergencies? Security threats? Traumatic injuries? Write down potential scenarios and prioritize them. 2️⃣ 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻: Who does what in an emergency? Assign roles based on skills and experience. Include everyone involved; this isn’t just for the "medical crew." 3️⃣ 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: Regular drills! Practice makes better(not perfect)—who doesn’t want to be a pro under pressure? Invest time in training sessions focused on real-life scenarios RELEVANT to your operations. 4️⃣ 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀: Check expiration dates on medical supplies.  Swap out equipment based on the environment that they are stored in. A roll of gauze or medical tape that sits in a medical bag in a vehicle constantly in the sun, will not hold up well as one kept in a temperature controlled office.  Update equipment based on changes in risks or team needs. 5️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀: What went well? What didn’t? Use these lessons to improve future plans. Don’t repeat mistakes! This may sound straightforward, but you'd be surprised how many organizations overlook these basics! If you're serious about safety, take some time to implement this checklist into your strategy today.  Whether it's for an event or general preparedness—it’s never too late to start building resilience! What steps are you currently taking to enhance your emergency response plans? Share below! 👇

We're always told to visualize our success. But here's why it's also important to imagine failure. It's called Crisis Mapping. Hustle culture will encourage you to: → Quit your job → Go big or going home  → Burn the boats on the beach → Leverage out beyond the point of return The Planning Fallacy is a cognitive bias.  People are famously bad at judging how long something will take. But it's often not due to their abilities,  but things out of their control. When you hope for the best and plan for the worst,  you will not only set more realistic timelines,  but get to your outcome faster,  and with less stress. Nobody is exempt from → A lawsuit  → A cyberattack  → A health crisis  → Market changes  → Regulatory changes  → Supply chain issues  → An economic downturn  → Burnout or loss of motivation  → Funding environment changes BUT, you can have contingency plans in place for all of them.  ↳ Hope for the best but plan for the worst. 1. List all potential crises or emergencies your business or project could face.  2. Rank the risks based on their likelihood and potential impact.  3. Identify all key stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers, etc.)  and understand how each would be affected during a crisis.  4. Conduct simulations for different crisis scenarios to test plans for weaknesses  5. Regularly review and update your plans to account for new risks P.S. Have you had a crisis map that saved you? (in biz or life)