Relax and eat your breakfast Thanks for coming to listen to me today, before we are done you will wish it was Friday.
Continuity EscaRosa BCI Hazards Evacuations School Safety Getting Involved Recent Initiatives What s next? Lets talk about.. To panel list main
Continuity There are a lot of places to find business continuity information, but there is a big difference between knowing where to find the information you need, and actually implementing it. Business Continuity
1. Start With the Worst Begin the planning with the worst-case situation your organization can imagine. For many, this example is the tragic events of September 11, 001. Work backwards from there and you ll start to fill in many of the dangers that can harm your corporation. You ll also be able to start challenging the worst case situation and begin to get more inventive with potential impacts and develop the plan accordingly. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-anddeveloping-a-bcp-program/
. Pillars of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Every BCP plan must address three things; Workforce Availability, Facility Availability and Technology Availability. If each plan has these three core components, an organization can respond to any disaster situation and expand their capabilities by adding varying situations and scenarios through validation exercises. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-anddeveloping-a-bcp-program/
. Dedicated Resource Assign a person with the appropriate training and authority to get things done, if not, the program will quickly fall to the wayside in favor of other initiatives. This may include getting outside help to get the process kick-started (i.e. consultants, contactors etc). More on this soon http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-anddeveloping-a-bcp-program/
. BCM Program vs. BCM Project The BCM program must live on and continually meet the needs of an organization, as it grows and changes; so to must the BCM program. A project has an end date but a program must live and breathe and contain more than just a single aspect of BCM. Therefore, when the Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is completed, that s just one project of the overall BCM program; you ve got lots more to get through and develop. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-anddeveloping-a-bcp-program/
. Exercising/Testing Plans mean nothing if they haven t been validated. Every organization must exercise its plans to make sure they ll work during a disaster. It s better to find gaps in your plans through exercising and under controlled circumstances rather than when the real thing happens. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-anddeveloping-a-bcp-program/
. Executive Support If no one is there to champion the BCM program, it won t last too long. In fact, there s a good chance it will run out of steam and end up on the backburner of boardroom discussions. Having executive support shows the rest of the organization that BCM is taken seriously. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-anddeveloping-a-bcp-program/
. Awareness & Training It can take a long time to develop continuity plans and create processes and procedures but if no one knows how to use them, where they re kept or under what circumstances they re required, they won t be of any value or use. Remember, awareness and training are not the same things and every level of the organization must received its fair share of both if the program (and all the developed plans and processes) are to be useful and successful. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-anddeveloping-a-bcp-program/
. Focus on People This should be a no brainer; BCM is about people. It s people that build the plans, use the plans, review and exercise the plans. It s people that will be impacted by not having plans in place; clients, vendors, employees and communities. If you state that technology availability is the most important part, you ve basically told those individuals who you need to help build plans that they aren t important. Keep in mind; people first. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-anddeveloping-a-bcp-program/
9. Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Every company must understand what it does and how it does it. A BIA is the process of analyzing business functions and the effect that a disruption might have upon them. Knowing this will help corporations develop appropriate Business Continuity Plans (BCP) and other contingency strategies. Ensure you get agreement on the findings, don t just state what they are and move forward. The findings from a BIA are what the attendees believe is important and it could turn out that what they feel is important to the company is not what executives believe is important. Make sure executives are in agreement with the findings before you start developing restoration and recovery plans you could be way off the mark. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-and-developing-a-bcpprogram/
10. Program Maintenance and Monitoring If program components aren t maintained and updated the Business Continuity strategies developed and the related documentation will reflect the corporation as it once was, not as it current is. http://stoneroad.wordpress.com/01/0/10/10-issues-to-remember-when-initiating-and-developing-abcp-program/
EscaRosa BCI What is available to help you with your continuity planning? EscaRosa BCI
Santa Rosa is excited to present the EscaRosa Business Continuity Initiative as a venue for businesses in Santa Rosa County to be involved with developing plans and sharing ideas to keep businesses in the county open during and after a disaster.
EscaRosa BCI is an organization that includes all the Chambers of Commerce, and emergency management from Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties, the COADs in each county (BRACE and SAFER Santa Rosa), as well as some key businesses and organizations, like: the UWF Small Business Development Center, the Better Business Bureau, and Gulf Power, in the workgroup.
Mission: To develop active partnerships within the Escambia and Santa Rosa County business community for enhancing disaster resiliency and continuity. Vision: The most sustainable, disaster-resilient business community in America.
EscaRosa BCI Ready.gov http://www.usfa.fema.gov/coop/ http://www.sba.gov/sba-direct/article/ http://www.sba.gov/content/disaster-preparedness# http://www.preparemybusiness.org/
Hazards I think now is a good time for us to talk about all the bad and nasty things that can happen here. Lets not focus just on what can happen to your businesses, but lets talk about all the bad things. This is a group activity so I will be soliciting ideas from the audience. Bad juju
You, the guy with no hair what can affect us here? Hurricanes (yes, that was obvious) You, the lady with the glasses. That is good..what else? Anyone?
Evacuations To evacuate or not evacuate, that is the question what does emergency management say, and why?
EVACUATION DECISION MAKING Storm Tide & Wave Height Forward Speed Radius of Maximum Winds Astronomical Tides
Evacuation Terms Mandatory evacuation A mandatory evacuation is an organized, official evacuation, ordering residents to leave an area of danger. Santa Rosa County Emergency Management coordinates shelter openings, if necessary, in conjunction with mandatory evacuations. Additionally, traffic control measures are implemented in order to expedite and direct traffic flow. General, pet, and special needs shelters will be open. Recommended evacuation A recommended evacuation is a requested evacuation, not mandatory, because an impending disaster may occur. The residents in the affected area are encouraged to seek refuge on their own initiative and independently obtain safe area and accommodations. Depending on threat, shelters may or may not open.
School Safety School safety is important and it is being addressed. The school district is being very proactive and in the future new protocols will be in place to assist in better understanding threats.
The newly formed school safety committee has done a thorough job of assessing the direction Santa Rosa needs to go in the future. We are taking an all hazards approach. School safety is a community issue, if you see something say something. If you suspect something say something. We are all in this security business together.
Getting Involved I am glad you asked. There are a lot of ways you can help your community be the most resilient community on the Gulf Coast. I will bring a few of examples to your attention, but it takes YOU taking action fro them to mean anything.
Citizen Corps Citizen Corps has groups under its umbrella at the national level; CERT, FireCorps, Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers In Police Service, and Medical Reserve Corps. We have all in our county except FireCorps We also have the Red Cross and the United Way of Santa Rosa Then we have SAFER Santa Rosa
CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) There are teams in Santa Rosa, one in Navarre and one in Pace. We also teach Teen CERT in Central and Jay HS. We have GBHS coming on board next school year. Contact me for information on CERT or reach out to the team nearest you.
USAonWatch (Neighborhood Watch) Start a NW watch in your community, get some of your neighbors together and invite Cindy Sarver from the Sheriff s Office in to help, it does not take a lot of time or money. My NW has already paid off. Start yours today.
Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) SRC has a dynamic and involved MRC and you do not need medical skills. Go to servfl.com and sign up for free. VIPS is in GB All of these Citizen Corps programs are good ways to get involved
Volunteer with the Red Cross, they need Disaster Assistance Volunteers Join forces with The United Way of Santa Rosa. They are growing and have a dynamic, energy filled group of people working on your behalf. Lastly is my favorite.
SAFER Santa Rosa (Support Alliance For Emergency Readiness) MISSION: to foster efficient, streamlined service delivery to people affected by disasters, while eliminating unnecessary duplication of effort, through cooperation in the four phases of disaster: preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation. VISION: To create the most resilient community possible to safeguard our way of life
SAFER Santa Rosa is not a competing or exclusionary organization. SAFER Santa Rosa is intended to be a network for organizations active in disaster. Each SAFER member organization will maintain its own identity and independence while closely collaborating with other SAFER Santa Rosa member organizations. COAD - Community Organizations Active in Disasters www.safersantarosa.org on Facebook as well
One of the biggest initiatives not yet addressed is the pursuit of a Safe Community designation through the National Safety Council. Recent Initiatives
There are currently only counties in the United States with a Safe Communities America designation We want to be the first on the Gulf Coast Over a year of research has gone into gathering data, establishing task groups, and getting evaluations, and raising funds.
The SO and Paul Patrick Electric paid the $100 application fee We have a little work left to do, to include finalizing the application. We then have to pay the way of evaluators to come to Santa Rosa, travel, room and board.
Imagine if you will what a Safe Community designation could do for the tourism industry. Consider the benefits to economic development. What about providing a defense against BRAC? Consider how you can support this initiative when the call for support goes out.
I have spent a good deal of time discussing what we are doing in Santa Rosa, and why we are doing it. What is next? What else can we do? What more is there to do? What s next?
I cannot answer those questions, but you can. What questions do you have?
Be ready for everything! Be Resilient!