While medical emergencies, severe weather or fire are probably your greatest risks, acts of terror are a possibility that must be considered in any emergency plan. While different events might require actions specific to their emergency, there are some common things to consider.

Access to the Building: If the event is significant, re-entry to the building may be limited to key personnel or possibly no one except emergency personnel. Who are the key persons that should remain on the site? Who should be sent home? If the event occurs after hours, what is the plan should you arrive at work and are denied access to your facility by emergency personnel? What items would be crucial to the operation of the company for 24, 48, 72 hours? Are duplicates of these items located in a secured off site location?

Informing Your Employees: If an emergency happens during the workday, how will you notify your employees of the event, give them instructions in an accurate and timely manner and information as to the risks associated with the event? If the emergency happens after hours how will you inform your employees about when and where they should report to work?

Divide the Tasks: While it is important for the Emergency Manager to coordinate the organization's actions, one person may not be able to oversee everything. Consider assigning tasks such as medical monitoring, facility maintenance and repair, relocation, mental health, finance, communication, strategic planning, information technology support, etc. to the persons in the organization that currently oversee these matters. They know best the resources available and what steps need to be taken to get the organization back up and running smoothly. Plan to use internal resources as much as possible even for tasks that might otherwise be outsourced. During a large scale emergency outsourcing may not be an option for many days or weeks.

Insurance: Now is the time to find out if your insurance policies include acts of war or terrorism. Not all policies include this but most companies will allow you to purchase it as an addition to your policy.