Evacuation Planning!

International and Transnational Crisis

Evacuation Planning

International and Transnational Crisis

Copyright Tony Ridley 2011! Page 1 of 20

Evacuation Planning! International and Transnational Crisis

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted for
resale or use by any party other than the individual purchaser who is the sole authorized
user of this information. Purchaser is authorized to use any of the information in this
publication for his or her own use only. All other reproduction or transmission, or any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
informational storage or retrieval system, is prohibited without express written permission
from the publisher.

LEGAL NOTICES: While all attempts have been made to provide effective, verifiable
information in this Book, neither the Author nor Publisher assumes any responsibility for
errors, inaccuracies, or omissions. Any slights of people or organizations are unintentional.
If advice concerning business matters is needed, the services of a qualified professional
should be sought. This Book is not a source of business information, and it should not be
regarded as such. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative
information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that
the publisher is not engaged in rendering a business service. If expert business assistance
is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. As with any
business advice, the reader is strongly encouraged to seek professional business counsel
before taking action.

Published by: Tony Ridley

PRINTED IN AUSTRALIA, DISTRIBUTED WORLDWIDE.

Copyright 2011

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Evacuation Planning! International and Transnational Crisis

Table of Contents
Introduction! 5

Planning! 5
Suite of Plans! 5

Have You Considered?! 6

Shelter-in-Place! 7

Stakeholders! 7

Record Keeping! 7

Transport! 7

Aircraft! 8

What Have I Forgotten?! 8

Logistics ! 8
Maps! 9

Transport! 9

Providers! 9

Finances! 10

Location Specific! 10

Tools! 11

Government Assisted Evacuations! 11

Supporting Agencies! 11

Formatting! 12

Plan! 12
Formats! 13

Collaboration! 13

Images! 13

Mapping! 13

Strategic Plans! 14

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Evacuation Planning! International and Transnational Crisis

Mobile Devices! 14

Videos! 14

GPS! 14

Local Staff! 15

Communications ! 15
Mediums and Channels! 16

Mobile Communications! 16

Satellite Phones! 17

Faxes! 17

Languages! 17

Management! 18
Succession Planning! 18

Worst Case! 19

Video Logs! 19

Conclusion! 20

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Evacuation Planning! International and Transnational Crisis

Introduction
If you have international operations or business travellers, then you need to read this
ebook. Following years of experience and numerous practical tests, I have tabled the key
factors that determine the success or failure of any evacuation plan due to international or
transnational crisis.

This ebook will analyze and discuss the planning, logistics, plan, communications and
management in order to assist
planners and managers in
developing the best possible and
adaptive evacuation plans.

By the end of this ebook, you will

immediately be able to eliminate
the majority of errors in existing
plans or commence the process
to create your own safety and
security evacuation plan.

I have written, reviewed and implemented numerous evacuation plans over the years and
have significant experience in what works and what invariably frustrates the evacuation
operations unnecessarily.

Through this extensive theoretical and practical experience I will seek to distill the primary
stages and priority tactile issues that must be considered or included in any plan to ensure
a successful outcome.

Planning
The likelihood of international evacuations remains low.

While the possibility of occurrence is low, it is still smart business and continuity planning
that mandates evacuation plans be developed and maintained.

Companies may not be blamed for the events that lead to an evacuation but they will
certainly be measured and held accountable for their level of preparedness and results, no
matter the underlying events that lead to an international or transnational evacuation.

While it may be obvious, the final success of any evacuation plan is determined by the way
in which the planning is conducted and the detail in which the process identifies and
allocates information and resources to broad and specific scenarios.

Suite of Plans

The evacuation plan is not the umbrella documentation or process and is highly dependent
on supporting strategies and plans such as business continuity, crisis management,
emergency management and will not be covered in the scope of this ebook.

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Evacuation Planning! International and Transnational Crisis

Evacuation plans are the result of a need or trigger to evacuate or relocate affected
personnel to a non-affected area and the conditions and triggers for such decisions is a
topic of another paper.

Also not included with the scope of this ebook.

Effective planning needs to identify the circumstances (and assumptions) in which an

evacuation will be conducted.

Have You Considered?

Will the local environment be hostile and non-permissive to independent move or will it be
the result of wide-spread services disruption and more of an administrative move to a
more sustainable and safer environment?

Will the evacuation be a short move to a non-affected area within the same country or
region or will it require a long tail support process to return all affected evacuees to their
home countries?

The time in which the need for evacuation is realized may be very
well scripted or dynamically trigged by instantaneous events.

Therefore it requires multi-timing activation to include

when
! Evacuees are co-located,
! Multi-location evacuation site,
! Anomalies such as when children are away on
a school excursion,
! Sympathetic pressures (i.e.: everyone else is
scrambling to leave),
! Insurance policy terms and conditions,
! Regardless of the external circumstances,
! And when the personal risk tolerance of
affected individuals is rapidly approaching.

How the sponsoring entity (business or NGO) will

implement the plan.

Whether they are able and competent enough to

independently execute the plan or whether they have full or partial
support from specialist providers and services.

Any-and-all diversity or conventional definitions that complicate emergency relocation and

evacuation operations such as nationality of evacuees, country of origin, blended families,
local partners or dependents and extended families that may culturally assume their
inclusion.

Life safety and security standards in which the entity will hold themselves to in the event of
an evacuation.

This includes accommodation, transport, medical, food, water, threats, residual risk and
emergency intervention to assertively influence the outcome of a deteriorating situation.
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Evacuation Planning! International and Transnational Crisis

Shelter-in-Place

There is always a window-of-opportunity for evacuations and emergency relocations that

may be missed or the threat outweighs the benefit actions of moving people under current
circumstances.

All planning must be inclusive of full or partial “shelter-in-place” demands that requires
evacuees to remain in location (this may be a location of your choosing or the nearest
safest refuge) until it is safe or beneficial to move again.

Stakeholders

Engagement and collaboration of key stakeholders is paramount

at this stage as many plans fail due to failed assumptions or lack
of understanding of the scope and capabilities of identified and
likely stakeholders.

Record Keeping

Input and advice should always be recorded and analyzed even

if not featured in the final plan.

This information should be accessible or referenced in the

event that a constraint or situation that was dismissed does in
fact take place, then the expertise and advice supplied in the
planning can be accessed, assessed and acted upon in a
timely fashion without necessarily chasing down the
originating individual or department.

Always document and communicate assumptions.

The risk tolerance of affected personnel, providers (aircraft, hotels,

drivers, etc), governments and internal stakeholders can never be
100% identified in advance.

Be clear on where your planning focused and allow for human emotions, graphic images,
family pressure and internal panic to all play a significant role on the day of the event
despite the calm and clarity achieved during planning.

Transport

Multi-transport planning considerations are a must.

There is always more than one way to move people either domestically or internationally.

Albeit there are faster and more expedient methods but a simple short haul via an
alternate transport means to another (possibly even safer) area may make the difference
between a move or no move scenario.
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Evacuation Planning! International and Transnational Crisis

Aircraft

Aircraft providers will always be cognizant of the insurance liabilities, the cost of one
evacuation versus the cost of their aircraft investment, support ground facilities, clearance
and their own crewʼs service safety standards or threat tolerances.

This will also be the case for road, train and water based transport providers.
What Have I Forgotten?

Donʼt forget the little things.

Departure stamps and taxes, baby formula, identification, customs and immigrations,
medicine, health, fatigue, stress, fear, weather, holidays, culture, food, water, clothes, pets,
media, luggage and many other issues have and will be the undoing of an evacuation plan
if not considered and planned in advance.

It is unlikely that any company or department will have all the required skills and resources
available internally for an international or transnational evacuation or that they may even
have them on stand-by at a momentʼs notice, so it is important that all resources be
identified and documented within the supporting logistics plan.

Logistics
Logistics relates to all the resources, cost, support and
administration required to come together during an
evacuation.

Accommodation requirements fall into three broad

categories.

Private accommodation, as usually occupied by the

traveller or expat in country.

Evacuation accommodation, such as the pre-

identified and planned accommodation to be used in
the event of an evacuation that may or may not be part
of your existing/routine accommodation plan.

Ad-hoc accommodation, such as taking immediate refuge at a school, shelter, shopping

complex or embassy as was necessitated by the sudden onset of events that forced
personnel into non-planned accommodation options.

All required, and likely ad-hoc accommodation, needs to be both identified and
documented in the plan.

These locations need to be independently documented in the appendices as a lift out

guide/review and put into the continually updated evacuation mapping support tools.

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