Being prepared makes a difference
Nobody wants to be at the centre of an emergency. Many of us don’t even want to think about planning for crisis situations. Thankfully, Concordia’s Emergency Management team has been developing and perfecting emergency preparedness planning for quite some time now.
“Planning for an emergency doesn’t only include grave situations such as natural disasters or terrorist activities, but includes emergency situations such as localized flooding, fire or technology malfunctions,” says Senior Advisor, Emergency Management Darren Dumoulin.
It is important for institutions, such as Concordia, to be prepared to mitigate any risk to its students and employees, and resume operations quickly in the event of an emergency.
As such, all units within Concordia University have been asked to complete a departmental emergency preparedness plan that will be consolidated under a comprehensive university plan.
“Nobody understands the nature of the work and its specific emergency contingency needs as well as the department,” says Dumoulin.
A good plan includes information such as procedures, contact lists and exercises undertaken in anticipation of a possible emergency. Additionally, it includesalternative locations and logistics and instructions for communicating evacuation or shelter information.
Indirect Compensation Manager Kimiko Kudo has been the Human Resources Department’s emergency preparedness champion for several years. “ It is a lot of work to foresee potential emergencies, prepare alternate plans and keep everyone informed and up to date, but it is comforting every time we successfully complete an emergency exercise because we know that we will be ready.”
All university employees should familiarize themselves with the important guidelines and resources available on the Concordia University Emergency Management planning web pages. There are many potential situations identified and guidelines on how to respond.
Related link:
• Emergency Management