Harnessing the Future: How to Revolutionize Emergency Management Training Through Virtual and Augmented Reality
We, as Emergency Managers, need to face the fact that traditional emergency preparedness training is costly, time consuming and in the end, knowledge retention is questionable. Let’s take Active Shooter training as an example. Whether we are giving this training to our fellow colleagues, academia, public institutions or businesses, what is going on through the trainees’ minds is, “When will this class be over so I can go get lunch?” Even with online training, which can be very successful if the training is conducted properly, the trainee more than likely still has a “Wandering Mind” and probably will not retain most of the necessary knowledge needed to react to an Active Shooter incident. Now imagine, using Virtual Reality, where the trainee is immersed in a scenario and must react in real time to an Active Shooter incident. This immersion puts the trainee in a virtual scenario of an Active Shooter event, where they have to react in order to survive. By using this technology, Emergency Managers can provide training that is realistic, cost effective and timely.
Virtual and Augmented Reality is not a new technology, but it is now being used by companies to train employees on both simple and complex tasks, to include, stocking shelves. This same concept can be used for any type of Emergency Management training, from hurricane recovery, active shooter incidents and fire drills to improvised explosive device removal and hazardous material spill cleanup. The use of virtual reality training enhances an individual’s retention rate by upwards of eighty percent and individuals being trained by virtual or augmented reality can learn up to four times faster than in a classroom environment. The use of this technology can improve the entire spectrum of emergency management training.
As Emergency Managers we have trained ourselves to train individuals, organizations and institutions in a certain way, even though this standard training might not be the best way for a trainee to retain the knowledge they need for disaster preparedness and response. Now is the time to harness the power of this technology to create innovative and realistic training scenarios and to change how we conduct Emergency Management training.
The Beyond Pandemic Plan: How Small Businesses Can Use Lessons Learned to Lead the Way in Responding to the Next Possible Pandemic
This is the first blog in a four-part series to address the need for Government, business and Public Institutions to create a “Beyond Pandemic Plan”
As the world moves into the next phase of Pandemic recovery, it is important to take the lessons learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic and use them to create better plans and procedures for a future pandemic. Small businesses must stop thinking in terms that we need a COVID-19 recovery plan. Instead, they should be looking ahead towards the next possible pandemic, by implementing the plans and procedures necessary not just to survive, but to be able to protect their employees and business interests without great determent to their economic growth. This is what we at WELLS Risk Management Solutions call the “Beyond Pandemic Plan”.
The COVID-19 Pandemic shocked all sectors of society and small businesses especially suffered. Business owners had the immediate issues of responding to employees infected with the virus, misinformation from unlimited sources, mass lockdowns and loss of revenue. Even if a small business had a Business Continuity Plan is place, the pandemic proved that they were woefully inaccurate. Federal and State Government were not prepared and many small businesses were forced to close. This pandemic proved that small business owners must be the leaders and innovate the way the create, exercise and implement their continuity and emergency plans.
As we move into the next phase, talk has been on the “New Normal” and how to mitigate your business against COVID-19. This is the wrong approach. Small business owners should take this time to create or revise their existing plans, using innovative techniques to not only to combat COVID-19, but to be prepared for a possible future pandemic. Each small business should have a Business Continuity Plan, Emergency Response Plan and a Crisis Communications Plan. These plans should include all possible emergencies and disasters that your small business could face, but especially pandemic response. Now is the time to invest in products that will provide your business with mitigation against all types of pathogens. HVAC systems need to be maintained and upgraded, and small business owners should invest in Air Sterilization Units that purify the indoor office air of harmful bacteria and viruses.
Small business owners must take the time incorporate pandemic response procedures into their continuity and emergency plans and to make the needed investments to mitigate against a future pandemic. At WELLS Risk Management Solutions, we believe that now is the time to move forward and help small businesses implement their “Beyond Pandemic Plan”.
Stop Thinking Outside and Throw the Box Away: How Local Government Can Create Innovative Mitigation Strategies to Prepare for the Next Possible Pandemic
This is the second blog in a four-part series to address the need for Government, business and Public Institutions to create a “Beyond Pandemic Plan”
In late February and early March of 2020, the world was caught off guard at the rapid speed at which the COVID-19 virus spread. The pandemic affected everyone and local governments were caught flat footed. Many local jurisdictions struggled to keep up with the changing restrictions placed upon them by the state and federal government, while initiating their Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP), often for the first time. Jurisdiction executives had to decide which employees were essential to even the basic functions of government and letting the others work from home. All of this affected how local jurisdictions see themselves and the people they serve. As the move into the recovery phase of the pandemic, and local governments start to review their COOP Plans, now is the time to stop thinking outside the box and just throw the thing away!
It is a typical government employee cliché to say, “Think outside the box”. The term is used to denote a person that breaks out of the typical government “group think” and comes up with what peers and supervisors view as novel ideas. These novel ideas, however, usually wind up sitting on a desk in the form of a memorandum, or a report that is in a binder on a shelf. Many jurisdictions regard Emergency Management and COOP plans as a “Check the box” exercise and once it has been reviewed each year, the task is finished, and most employees never read their agency’s Emergency or COOP plans. Now is the time for local jurisdictions to leave the “Get outside the box” mindset behind and create innovative ways to respond to the next emergency, natural disaster or pandemic.
As local jurisdictions take the time to revise their Emergency and COOP plans, executives and employees should take the time to consider a realistic approach to mitigating the next emergency or disaster. Emergency plans should include a functioning Pandemic annex that all employees know and can implement when needed. COOP plans need to include those employees that are essential to meet the basic functions of government and provide a way for others to work from home. Local governments need to invest in new technologies that will help in mitigating the next possible pandemic. This could include upgrading existing HVAC systems and installing Air Sterilization Units in all public buildings.
Now is the time for local government to take the lead in creating innovative, yet functional, COOP and emergency plans. The box needs to finally go into the garbage where it belongs!
Keeping The Doors Open: How Public Education Executives Can Keep Children in School Even During a Pandemic
This is the third blog in a four-part series to address the need for Government, business and Public Institutions to create a “Beyond Pandemic Plan”
The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentality changed the way education, both primary and higher, is perceived and conducted. The pandemic forced school executives to turn to virtual platforms to keep children learning while not able to attend school in a traditional setting. At home virtual learning, however, was difficult at best and could leave many children struggling with their studies. Also, parents now had an active role to play in their children’s education. For those parents that were forced to work from home, it meant taking time out of their work hours to help with school work. For others that were deemed essential employees, they had to find child care that could take care of their children and help with their studies while they were at work, creating stress for many families. Many teachers found it difficult to teach lessons in a virtual setting and some children fell behind in their studies. Even after schools reopened, school executives struggled on how to maintain the classrooms without spreading the virus. Now that the pandemic has reached a new phase, school board directors, executives, teachers and support staff need to the time to find ways to keep school open and children learning during the next pandemic.
There are benefits for children, K-12, and the schools to conduct in person learning. These benefits encompass the both health and finical aspects of children attending schools. For the children, the health benefits are immense. Many families depend on their children eating at least one, possibly two healthy meals while at school. They depend on the nutritional benefits that schools provide. Physical Education provides exercise and mental health benefits that children might not otherwise receive in a virtual learning environment. For the schools, in person learning can provide finical benefits that include increased revenue for the school district and a reduction in caregiver costs for the parents. School executives, teachers and staff should factor in the benefits when factoring in the school’s plans for dealing with pandemic response.
The pandemic challenged how schools function and if how to keep the children conducting in person learning. Now is the time for those that are stakeholders in their school systems to implement the necessary plans to keep their schools open for in person learning. This includes testing protocols and the instillation of air purification systems in order for children to attend school in a healthy environment. This is the time for executives, teachers and staff to prepare for the next possible pandemic and create a viable “Beyond Pandemic Plan”.
Giving the Public Something Beautiful During Hard times: How Museums and Libraries Can Use Lessons Learned to Keep Their Doors Open to the Public During the Next Possible Pandemic
“This is the fourth blog in a four-part series to address the need for Government, business and Public Institutions to create a “Beyond Pandemic Plan”
As we continue to recover from the pandemic, everyone is taking the time to reflect. Government agencies, federal, state and local are developing new policy measures to avoid the shut downs that happened during the pandemics height, small businesses are creating unique mitigation measures to enable them to survive a next possible pandemic and educational institutions are enacting measures to keep their doors open and their students and faculty safe. Individuals are reflecting on how the pandemic affected not only their physical, but mental health, as well. The isolation of the pandemic caused many to suffer from anger and loneliness. Many of the escapes that people has, such as museums and libraries, were suddenly taken away from them at a time when these institutions could have a little beauty and light in a darkened world. These public institutions need to take the time to reflect on enacting new mitigation measures to ensure that the public can still see their treasures during a next possible pandemic.
In February 2022, museums and libraries were forced to shut down, leaving the public without an outlet to escape from the stress of the pandemic. These institutions hold the imagination, ingenuity and knowledge of humanity, whether it is the beauty of art, the historical artifacts of our collective past, or the books that provide us with learning or simple escapism. Museums and libraries should take this time to add new and innovative mitigation measures to enable them to keep their doors open if another pandemic strikes. These measures include updating their emergency response and collection preservation plans. Each emergency plan should include a functioning pandemic response annex and employees should be trained on their role in an emergency. Museums and libraries should look into new and novel technologies for air sterilization and consider upgrading their current HVAC systems.
As we all take the time to reflect how the pandemic has affected each of us individually, museums and libraries need to plan on integrating new technologies and updated plans to keep their doors open during a next possible pandemic. Their treasures provide us with tools to learn, beauty to see and a way to escape the stress of daily life. They give us a sense of pride in humanity and make us wonder at the world around us. This makes them an essential part of our lives.
Becoming an Emergency Management Process Architect: Using Business Process Analysis to Revolutionize Emergency Management and Disaster Preparedness
Consulting firms that specialize in Emergency Management and Planning, often follow the same set of patterns and usually cut and paste from the same FEMA, or State EM agency, and make them their own. While there is nothing wrong with cutting and pasting (as a small business owner that specializes in Risk Management, I have done my share off cut & paste), it is the patterns that we set and the habits we get used to that keep us from changing the field of Emergency Management. We fail to realize that when we give our pitch to a potential client, most of them already have some form of Emergency Response, Continuity and Crisis Communications plans in place. We then turn our pitch to how we can review and revise those plans with our vast years of experience, and we can come up with the best training programs and exercises for those plans. The problem is, most small business and local government agencies have heard this all before. They figure, why contract this out when I can have one of my employees do it in house. The answer is for us to revolutionize the very fundamentals of Emergency Management, by using Business Process Analysis.
Business Process Analysis, but definition is:
“A methodology for the analysis of a business with a view to understanding the processes and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations. It describes the processes involved, parties participating, information exchanged and documents produced.“
Any business, Public Institution, Non-profit or government agency already have Processes in place. Processes are used for Work Orders, Payroll, IT systems and many other practices that are performed on a daily basis. Business Process Analysis studies these processes and finds ways to streamline them and make them more cost effective, making a business more profitable. Emergency Plans, Training Programs, COOP and Exercises all have processes that they follow. As Emergency Management consultants we need to stop thinking like emergency Managers and start applying Business Process Analysis in how we interact with our clients. We need to start analyzing their Emergency Management processes to find what can be streamlined, not revised, and find cost efficient solutions to our clients’ unique needs. This is the first step in becoming Emergency Management Process Architects, not just specialists.