by Lionel Bascom — October 16th, 2008 — 1 comment
In the post 9/11 world, more companies have emergency evacuation and disaster recovery procedures in place, but officials say they need more resources to combat obstacles, according to a recent survey that compared results from a similar poll in 2007.
Three facilities management experts — Victoria Hardy, chief executive of Star Island, a nonprofit that sponsors conferences and retreats in Portsmouth, N.H.; Suzanne Kennedy of the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston; and Kathy Roper of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta — reviewed the survey findings Thursday at the International Facility Management Association’s World Workplace 2008 Conference and Expo at the Dallas Convention Center.
The team set out to determine the impact of 9/11 on emergency preparedness.
“How does a company prepare for a total catastrophic event?” asked Ms. Hardy, the former head of Wentworth’s design and facilities department, “It doesn’t have to be terrorism. We now have many examples of hurricanes and floods.”
On Sept. 11, 2001, the Port Authority of New York’s was able to safely evacuate more than 18,000 people from the World Trade Center complex in the 1 hour, 42 minutes and 5 seconds between the initial attack and the last building’s collapse, Ms. Hardy said. The main reason so many people survived was because the Port Authority made many changes to its building and its emergency procedures after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, she said.
The Port Authority’s changes to the former World Trade Center included adding reflective paint to all exits, installing speakers throughout, having backup power sources and designated floor wardens.
In May 2007, the team surveyed 100 facility management professionals about their evacuation practices to determine if 9/11 had a long-term impact on emergency practices.
“We were horrified at what we found,” said Ms. Hardy. “There were serious numbers of people who didn’t do drills at all, and more than half didn’t feel that they had a good plan.”
10:25 PM in Uncategorized, World Trade Center, Ground Zero, Related Stories
Emergency preparedness was something with which I grew up in Michigan. As a child, I knew the best way to protect my body from shattering glass and falling objects in the event of a tornado or fire in school. Also, we were instructed as to which exits to follow in any other emergency situation.
I teach at a university in the Tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. About 2 weeks ago, we had a power failure, and no one really knew what to do except to stand around and wait for the emergency personnel to check the buildings. We were ambivalent about the purpose for their checks.
I had registered my cell phone for emergency notification with the university; however, I did not receive any word until we were allowed to re-enter the buildings. Then, the notice came to my cell phone repeatedly.
Ms. Hardy makes a strong point in that there seems to be some apathy and ineptness regarding preparedness for any emergency situation, weather related or man-made. Similar to caring for one’s body to avoid or at least deal with any viral infection, caring for and educating the human beings that comprise the nation’s labor force, students who comprise the foundation of our future, and those dependent on others must take priority to ward off the epidemic of ignorance
Jeanne · October 17th, 2008 at 6:43 pm