What is an Emergency Action Plan?

Growing up did your family have a plan in case of emergencies?  As a kid if an emergency prevented my parents from picking me up from my sports practice, they would ask a trusted adult to communicate our family password when he or she came to get me. That password let me know that it was safe and that my parents wanted me to get in the car with that person. As an adult now, my family has a reunification meeting strategy. Should a fire or other natural disaster prevent us from reuniting at our home, we have designated meeting locations to find each other. These simple planned strategies for emergencies can help keep our families safe. Emergency action plans for your sports organization are just as important.

An emergency action plan contains written details of the steps to follow when an unplanned event compromises the safety or security of others and / or threatens harm to property. The emergency action plan should include steps to follow during and immediately after an emergency. An emergency action plan can incorporate a disaster plan, but is applicable for more than just disaster related emergencies. This may sound simple but actually can be overwhelming to prepare a plan for multiple emergency scenarios. Here are some steps to help you get started.

Identify your organization’s risk exposure to emergencies.

• People.  Do you have employees? Do you use volunteers? Do you rely on other organizations or people to support your operations? Do you have fans? Might someone in attendance be youth, elderly or have a disability?
• Place.  Are you a local, regional, national or international organization? Is traveling involved? Do you manage a facility? Do your activities take place in an urban, suburban, rural, or remote setting?
• Things.  Do you own or rent equipment or supplies? Is any of your equipment specialized or expensive? Does your organization own or rent vehicles or other motorized equipment?

Identify possible emergency scenarios.

• Natural situations – earthquake, flood, tornado, hurricane, tsunami, lightening, heavy rain, hail, etc.
• Man-made situations – terrorism, crowd crush, active shooter, arson, violence and fighting, etc.

Prepare your emergency action plan.

• Plan to save human lives
• Plan to protect physical resources
• Plan for continuity of the sport programs and organization
• Confirm that you have adequate insurance coverage
• Consult your people for input
• Reference other existing emergency action plans
• Consult an expert for help in drafting, reviewing or updating your plan
• Include a communication plan for each emergency scenario

Keep your emergency action plan in multiple locations.

• Electronic copies – electronic copies should be made available to key personnel, but should be kept secure from potential bad actors
• Paper copies – in case of power outages, be prepared with multiple up-to-date hard copies maintained in different locations

Practice your emergency action plan.

• Train staff
• Use local emergency personnel
• Coordinate with your state / regional state emergency authorities
• Engage in training exercises:
  • table top exercises
  • drills
  • full-scale exercises

 
Do not get complacent with your emergency action plan.  This should be reevaluated and updated regularly. Consult with Nohr Sports for more ideas.