Tricks Of The Trade: Disaster Planning Coordination

By James C. Elledge, IFMA Fellow, CFM, FMA, RPA, RIAQM
Published in the August 2006 issue of Today’s Facility Manager

Q Do you know of any sort of resource, organization, or group that unites emergency officials (municipal, state, and federal) with corporate facility professionals? I’m looking for forums where individuals can discuss, plan, implement, and manage local/regional evacuations, shelter-in-place, and shared facilities for emergencies.

David Wind
FM Consultant
Winport Associates
Columbia, MD

A Based on your location, the best resource is Howard County’s Community Emergency Response Network (CERN). CERN’s mission is to facilitate the development of a community based disaster response plan to ensure optimum preparedness in the advent of a terrorist attack or major natural emergency. This program was initiated after the events of 9/11 as a partnership between the Horizon Foundation, the County government, and key community agencies.

CERN supports the county government’s disaster planning through the coordination of the emergency plans and resources of participating members. Functions include disaster and shelter planning, interagency coordination, tabletop exercises, and communications enhancement. See this link.

Elledge,facility/office services manager for Dallas, TX-based Summit AllianceCompanies, is the recipient of the Distinguished Author Award from theInternational Facility Management Association (IFMA), is an IFMA Fellow, and isa member of TFM’sEditorial Advisory Board. All questions have been submitted via the “Ask TheExpert” portion of the magazine’s Web site. To pose a question, visit this link.