Emergency Response and Crisis Management Planning
November 24, 2013
Abstract
Emergency Response and Crisis Management Planning are essential to organizational
resilience and business continuity. Traditionally the [primary] objective of these plans was to
ensure the safety and security of personnel, with secondary objectives of protecting
organizational assets, minimizing loss due to hazards, and finally restoring normal operations.
This remains mostly accurate for natural hazards, but recent changes in tactical approaches by
terror organizations like Al Qaeda have brought about a need for change. The “secondary” attack
method targets medical, law enforcement, military, and others by using a small decoy action to
attract responders to a target location and the activating a secondary assault aimed at them
specifically. This has also been problematic in mass-shooting scenarios, were response plans
actually put personnel at greater risk. Understanding that the FEMA “All-Hazards” model is
simply a framework, it is my conclusion that special emphasis be made to ensure that these
particular attack scenarios are addressed.
Page 3