Also known as Emergency Assembly Points, Evacuation Assembly Areas, Emergency Assembly Station, etc.
These are the designated areas (or area) outside of a work facility where people should go, if the building needs to be evacuated. Check in with first-responders or members of your Crisis Action Team. Do not go back into the building until instructed to do so. These locations should be safer than staying inside of the building, during an evacuation incident – your life safety is the top priority. They may be located on-property or off-property, depending on the site selected by your organization’s leadership, facilities management and/or emergency management teams. They may also be marked with a sign – or not – but at a minimum your crisis action plan should include a floor plan/location map which shows where each of these Emergency Assembly Areas (EAA) are located.
Example signage
If there are more than one EAA location, you should be designated to a primary location and a backup one, if possible. A multi-story office building may have multiple EAAs by floor or company or some other method. When you evacuate, go to your primary EAA if possible – what is key is that you check in with the Crisis Action Team or other responders for accountability. There may be further instructions – or even further evacuations or transportation – at that EAA.
If the EAA is unsafe (for example, if it is too close to an ongoing threat in the building, like a fire), go to the alternate EAA. If you have to leave the building due to an active assailant attack, go anywhere that is safer, contact first responders (like 9-1-1) and ask them where to go.
We prefer the term “safer” rather than “safe” – a Safer Room (TM) in an office (or perhaps even a home, school, or other business) is one where people can go to during any shelter-in-place event or incident and they will be saferthan they would be at their normal work/residence/school location. Safer Rooms are not as elaborate or expensive as “Panic Rooms” (although Panic Rooms are generally designed with the same features as Safer Rooms, except for one critical aspect: they usually do not have a second way out – an emergency exit). Safer Rooms should be designed to have some very specific features, which make them more conducive for a number of people to shelter-in-place – or even “conceal” themselves during an active assailant attack (i.e., provide both cover and additional safety, plus the option to escape away from the threat) – all at the same location within a building. One other critical goal for a Safer Room is to be available for all types of sheltering-in-place Hazards – so people know to go to the same place, regardless of the threat that requires a shelter-in-place action. Just as one would use the fire stairways – and not elevators – for a building evacuation due to fire, chemical spill, gas leak, etc., they should utilize Safer Rooms for tornado warnings, blizzards, hail storms, etc. in addition to being the location they should choose if they cannot evacuate safely from an active assailant on-site or to go to, if there is an active shooter on or near their facilities campus (outside of building). There are very real differences between a “Lockdown” – when the active assailant is right there, and a “Lockout” when the threat is nearby. Follow the instructions of emergency management and public safety officials as to what to do, and absent any intelligence (or conflicting intelligence), go with what you determine is best for your own personal safety.
We recommend using a small symbol on a removable magnet to indicate which are the Safer Rooms. This would be known to the staff only (and communicated on demand to visitors, as needed) and should be consistent to all of the work locations so that staff who visit other locations know what to look for. During a Lockdown, if Safer Rooms are used to “Hide” or provide Cover/Concealment, once all the people have evacuated into the Safer Room, the last person takes the symbol magnet off, so that anyone else (like a threat actor) does not know this is a Safer Room. Everyone inside needs to follow their organization’s Lockdown protocols as to when to end the use of the Safer Room and what to do next.
Safer Rooms should:
Have a second way out. This might be a conference room with two doors (ideally an interior one where the doors are in different hallways, leading to building exits). If it is a storage room in the middle of the building, explore if it can be retrofitted/reconstructed with a second exit-only door (no handle on the outside). Make sure to follow all local building codes, including ADA compliance for egress equipment and door sizing. The further you can move yourself and others away from the threat, the better.
Have solid walls and a lockable solid door – so that someone from the outside cannot easily see in or get in. Small windows on the door should have a curtain or some other device to block inward view quickly. This helps provide Concealment.
If possible, have the room built with reenforced walls and confirm with architects/building designers that it is one of the better places to be, in terms of the structural supports of the building against severe weather threats, for example. Have large items to block walls and doors (such as cabinets or tables). This helps provide Cover. Also small items to throw at an attacker (like staplers, trash cans, etc.) if necessary.
Have a light switch to turn off the lights – it helps to have the room number marked on the light switch, so you can let emergency responders know where you are located.
Have at least one working power outlet, power strips, and a number of chargers and cables for cell phones
Have a landline (or VOIP) phone – in case cell service is spotty or poor. This also provides a way for first responders to communicate with you.
Have a laminated signal page with green on one side and red on the other to either slip half-way under the door or post in the exterior window – use only if instructed by your leadership or first responders (via your communications devices, not from someone “shouting out” commands in the hallway) – the green side up (or out) indicates everyone in that room is okay, the red side indicates urgent medical/health emergencies exist in the Safer Room.
Have some bottled water and sweet snacks – people might be in this room for a while and need to take medications or have low blood sugar, etc.
If the room has a window and is on a floor where someone could escape the room through that window, have a device to break the window (a hammer, for example) if the window does not normally open enough on its own to let someone exit. While these rooms are not the best for All-Hazards Safer Rooms, due to the hazards which can come from the window breaking during the threat, they still need to be outfitted to help support a second way out for evacuation.
*Safer Room is a trademark of York Drive, LLC. Used with permission. Barton Dunant can help you design your crisis action plans, make recommendations for Safer Rooms and provides table-top and functional exercises for your organization to test your plans. Learn more about starting a crisis action plan by clicking here.
There is certainly an open discussion of where should the field of Emergency Management reside, academically: Is it Art? Is it Science? Is it something else?
Science – threat/hazard calculations, include the one that has “Outrage” as a multiplier (Peter Sandman article – https://www.psandman.com/articles/zurich.pdf)
Art – Stand for nothing, you will fall for everything (Music) (Katy Perry! quote)
We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand.
Colleges and Universities who have majors in Emergency Management have it pretty much event split between these three choices. In Emergency Management we have a lot of our own axioms, quotes, fun sayings to live by, etc. – and we ‘steal’ from the best of other fields as well, too. Here are some of the more artful ones.
Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.
Bette Davis’ character Margo Channing, in “All About Eve”
Active Assailant mantras
Run-Hide-Fight
ABC: Avoid, Barricade, Confront
Avoid, Deny, Defend
One Bite at a Time
Is how they say you should endeavor to eat an elephant.
The Devil is in the Details
Failure is not an option
text
Fear
Lots of stuff to fear. But fear with planning can lead to safety. Fear without planning can lead to panic.
(c) Barton Dunant – All Rights Reserved.
Measure Twice, Cut Once
text
Plans themselves are quickly outdated, but the planning process is timeless.
Eisenhower quote, but with some changes…
Help for the Helpers
Fred Rodgers quote “Look for the helpers” – some criticize this, but we disagree.
Every Mistake is an opportunity to learn something new
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing” – Henry Ford
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new” – Albert Einstein
All Disasters Start and End Locally
text
Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste (Winston Churchill)
Not to mean there really are good disasters, don’t get hung up on that. Think more like John Lewis and “Good Trouble”. This is about mitigation.
Plan for the worst (see also, “Hope is not a Plan”)
Some will say, “and Hope for the Best”. We disagree. Hope is not a four-letter word in our lexicon. Work is. We say “Plan for the Worst, Work Towards the Best.” It’s also a lot like our democracy – towards a more perfect union, a never ending journey.
Plan your Work, Work your Plan
Similar to the one above, and other planning axioms.
Call an Audible, Out of an Abundance of Caution, etc. (i.e., we are not using the plan)
This is a risky move for a commander, in that they are going against the planners and the plans for that operational period. No legal protection to hide behind when this is done. During COVID-19, these actions (i.e., not using the CBRNE/pandemic plans in place) were normalized by political leaders with the phrase “Out of an Abundance of Caution”.
Risk
Risk as a calculation or formula, has a number of elements to it. It usually involves threats and hazards.
Run from the water. Hide from the wind. The most critical decision that can be made is to leave the area at risk of storm surge flooding. Most well-built structures are safe even in major hurricane winds. Even well-built structures fail to provide protection from water. Listen to local officials when they issue evacuation orders.
one of those superstitions in the EM field. Especially never ever say “Have a Q—-t Weekend”
The moment you open a shelter is the time to start planning how it will close
The ramp up to opening a mass care general population shelter serving people with disabilities, access and functional needs (yes, that’s what shelter’s are really called) is quite complex and requires all three of the “S”‘s – Staff, Stuff and Site(s). All of these have to be demobilized or transferred – if the clients all depart – or the shelter site needs to be moved to another location. There could also be co-located pet and medical needs sheltering, emergency supplies distribution sites, fixed feeding sites. All of those needs to be considered and planned for. In many, many disasters – this is the most recurring complex operation that an Emergency Manager has oversight on.
Not my Clowns, Not my Circus
text
Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.
Usually misattributed to CS Lewis
Release the Kraken / Big Push
Speed to Scale – Speed to Service
text
Throw like a girl
Time – Distance – Shielding
Works for not only explosive incidents (CBRNE), but other threats as well. The faster you get further away from any threat, and shielding yourself in the process – the better. Active Assailants, too.
Train like you fight, fight like you train
The 10th Fish Rule
Okay, some call it the 10th man rule, as this blog does, but the point is someone needs to be the “devil’s advocate” and argue for consequence management. From Chris Meyer of The Mind Collection.
If it’s not written down – it didn’t happen
Document your work – via logs (214 forms), SitReps, etc. This is for your credit and your protection.
Relevant EMINT Content from The National Security Policy and Analysis Organization at American Public University
The National Security Policy and Analysis Organization (NSPAO) facilitates critical engagement in national security, international affairs, and intelligence issues by engaging with national security experts and promoting an informed exchange of ideas to develop analytical skills and produce meaningful analyses relevant to the defense community. The CEMIR provides Emergency Management Intelligence (EMINT) analysis to the NSPAO. This is one of those tradecraft pieces.
As part of a standard “SWOT” Analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats – the aspect of Collaboration is an important set of Strengths that can enhance the Planning, Organization, Equipment, Training, and Exercising (POETE) to reduce or eliminate Threats and Risks for any country’s Emergency Management practitioners: Emergency Managers. Every country must have all-hazards Disaster Readiness (aka resiliency) – along the standard path of Protect/Prevent/Prepare, Respond, Recover and Mitigate – must include partnerships with other countries. Equipment, supplies, tools, and techniques delivered to and from the military and civilian intelligence agencies can assist Emergency Management practitioners at all levels of government. It is crucial that Emergency Managers understand the risks of any threat – and the possibility of adverse impacts to not only the communities they serve but to their own workforce (inclusive of all incident command and control structures) and those of allied partners.
EUROPE PREPARES FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT
The European Parliament has voted for strengthening the role of the European Union (EU) in crisis management through a legislative revision of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. This allows for faster and more effective European solidarity operations in response to large-scale emergencies or disasters that affect several countries at the same time. The EU will have at its disposal additional financial means for civil protection and will strengthen emergency tools such as the rescEU medical reserve of protective equipment.
European Commission, 2021 April 27, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_1940
This agreement between European Union (EU) nations can assist Emergency Management practitioners in the EU in all the disaster readiness phases. This intelligence form also applies to the Response Phase Incident Action Planning, which should be delivered to Unified Command for continuous Situational Awareness.
New EU Civil Protection features
During the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, EU nations have experienced the same shortages of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) as in other nations, including the United States. Their rescEU program enables the Commission to procure supplies when the national capabilities and capacities cannot or do not have the capacity to do so directly. The rescEU program also provides transportation and logistics support to move these items – and the personnel to support them. This includes medical personnel, medical equipment, and therapeutics. Highlighted details on this program can be found at https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_1940
From the EU – https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/what/civil-protection/eu-civil-protection-mechanism_en
Copernicus: Europe’s consolidated and coordinated disaster mapping system
The Copernicus Emergency Management System (CEMS) is built from satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence and provides free access to organizations before, during, and after incidents and disasters.
For Response, they have Rapid Mapping available within hours or days of the incident.
For Recovery and Mitigation, they have Risk and Recovery Mapping, which also covers Preparedness/Prevention/Protection.
Survey results indicated most Europeans support a unified and collaborative approach to crisis management.
The European Union plays a key role in coordinating national borders of civil protection activities, with over 430 EU Civil Protection Mechanism activations since 2001. This survey looks at European citizens’ attitudes towards the European Union’s activities related to civil protection, including crises such as the coronavirus pandemic, and their awareness of the EU’s coordination role in response to disasters. The survey results support the EU’s role in crisis management, with 84 % of Europeans agreeing that coordinated EU action should be increased to respond more effectively to future disasters and crises. More than 9 in 10 Europeans agree that their country should provide help when a disaster strikes in another EU country that is too big to deal with on their own, a clear sign of support for EU solidarity (European Union, 2021).
Challenges in the United States for collaboration with other countries during disasters
Challenges built into U.S. federal laws currently prevent full collaboration with other nations to support U.S. disasters. While no one would expect military forces from neighboring or allied nations, logistical support such as transporting material from one U.S. port to another is limited by law to U.S. vessels with U.S. crews (see the Jones Act). This became a counter-point by the major oil companies in 2022 during the surge in retail gasoline prices, whereby savings could be up to 10 cents per gallon, according to a report by J.P. Morgan. However, it should be noted that this nationalistic restriction does not apply to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that support governmental disaster missions, such as the American Red Cross. As part of a worldwide network of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies worldwide, any nation’s Red Cross can ask for assistance from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent to help coordinate assistance from other nations’ societies. During Superstorm Sandy in 2012, volunteers from the Canadian and Mexican Red Cross societies came to New Jersey and New York to assist. A software platform called Ushahidi – which originated in Kenya and started out as an election results violence monitoring mapping system – was used by tech volunteers to monitor closed roads, downed trees, shelters, and even posts from stranded individuals in their homes. Accurate and up-to-date crisis mapping is crucial to effective Emergency Management Intelligence.
References
Kuman, D. K. & Xu, C. (2022, June 17). East Coast gas would only drop a dime if Jones Act lifter, says JPMorgan. Bloomberg News – Financial Post. https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/east-coast-gas-would-only-drop-a-dime-if-jones-act-lifted-says-jpmorgan
CATO Institute (n.d.), Project on Jones Act reform. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.cato.org/project-jones-act-reform
European Commission (2021, April 27), A strengthened EU civil protection mechanism endorsed by European Parliament. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_1940
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2015). World Disasters Report. https://www.ifrc.org/sites/default/files/World-Disasters-Report-2015_en.pdf
European Commission (n.d.), European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/civil-protection/mechanism_en
You can view more content from the NSPAO at https://www.nspao-apus.org/
School Districts – please watch this short video to learn more about all-hazards emergency management, especially as it relates to the planning, organizing of staff, equipping, training, and exercising needed.
START HERE: Before you start your first exercise, you need to plan our both the training and exercising collaborativelybetween school officials and the local public safety officials (police, fire, EMS/public health/hospitals, emergency management, etc.). This needs to be a whole community approach, since the incidents will be managed on a whole-community basis as well. Here’s the HSEEP template for conducting a workshop on building a multi-year plan, and here’s the template for the plan document itself. Both are courtesy of FEMA.
Here is a PDF copy of the slides and speaker notes, from our free sample table top exercise, conducted on March 22, 2024. The documentation (SitMan) for any district to use on their own, for a similar exercise is below:
For our free templates and exercise documents, you do not need to enter any credit card info, but you will have to agree to our Terms and Conditions and provide your info (we do use for a newsletter to be e-mailed, but you can always opt-out of that anytime). We do NOT sell your information to any third-party services or providers.
Need more help?
We can also help remotely facilitate and evaluate any exercises your organization wants to conduct. Drop us a line, if you need help.
Barton Dunant encourages its clients to follow this stair-stepped approach to exercises, building on capabilities and complexity.
