Emergency response – When the worst happens
Jun 23, 2017 | 3151 Views
Most of us are lucky enough never to have found ourselves in the middle of a crisis. But being
prepared for a crisis is something any business cannot ignore. A big part of emergency response
planning consists of detection, issuing alerts and protective action. The goal of any emergency
response plan is to minimize the damage to property and life while maintaining continuity of
business post-event.
Typical risks facing a business can range from singular issues to situations that impact an entire
community or region. An individual-level crisis could include an accident or a medical emergency at
the premises where an individual is affected. Larger events include incidences of fire at the premises.
Other emergencies could include terrorist attacks, earthquake or floods where in addition to
organizational actions, government and external support may be needed.
Various scenarios need to be effectively imagined and planned for, no matter how improbable they
might seem at the time of the plan. The scale of the crisis is commonly under-estimated for
preparedness- while a marginal over-estimation is the better strategy to adopt.
While designing a plan, it is important to take into consideration the overall structure, layout and
architectural map of a space. A well-integrated security system can help various modules like access
control, fire alarm systems, fire control systems, warning systems, and alerts to stakeholders to work
in tandem leading to early action and response.
Training and mock drills are very important to ensure that the action to be taken by various actors in
the system is well ingrained and any loopholes or shortcomings in the plan are identified and fixed.
Let us take a very simple example of how an emergency response system can lead to minimizing
damage to humans and assets.
AB Labs is a research and development facility for creating chemical formulations. At any given point
in time, AB Labs has about 15 researchers working at different stations within the lab, which is also
supported by 5-6 non-research staff. One day, one of the researchers accidentally tips over a
container and a reaction follows that starts a fire. The toxic fumes emanating from the spill lead for
the researcher to faint and the rest of the people on seeing this, pick him up and evacuate the area.
The addressable fire alarm has a smoke detector that detects a fire and immediately the system
releases a dry powder mix to put out the fire only in the affected area. The system also generates
alerts, which gets the concerned supervisor to rush to the scene and initiate emergency protocols
and administer first aid. The security administrator who is traveling at the moment gets instant
alerts on his phone and he too is in on the action. Timely measures not just save the life of the
researcher but also ensure that the fire is put off without much delay.
To sum up:
iSolus is an effective platform and recommended as a key tool for planning any emergency response
system. iSolus ensures that all modules in the system communicate effectively with each other
resulting in timely alerts and action. Please visit our website www.solus.co.in and for any sales
enquiries, please contact +91 8080814500 or drop an email to
sales@solus.co.in.
