Communications

At the dawn of the 20th century, Galveston was arguably slated to become the largest city in Texas. A 27-mile long island rising a mere five feet above sea level, the bustling town had grown into the state’s central port. Numerous millionaires called it home, and downtown’s Strand District was dubbed the “Wall Street of the South.”

All of that changed on September 8, 1900.

With little warning and a lack of the communication technology we now have, a Category 4 hurricane slammed into the coast. Winds in excess of 140 mph battered homes and businesses. A storm surge over 15 feet high swallowed the island. By the following morning, the entire city was leveled. Read More

One of the biggest challenges a business faces during a wildfire is communication. Wildfires can grow from a small brush fire into an inferno that engulfs thousands of acres in only a matter of hours.

As a result, officials must be on their toes and have the right technology, processes, and training in place to ensure those in harm’s way are given the information they need to protect themselves and their loved ones at a moment’s notice. Read More

Hurricanes are fast, furious and can last for days. Do you have a hurricane communication plan that you can use before, during, and after one hits?

The average life of a hurricane is nine days and it is most destructive during its first 12 hours onshore. As you think about preparing your business for a hurricane, you want to keep organizational communication top of mind. Doing so will help mitigate losses and improve safety outcomes. Read More

Last week AlertMedia hosted a webinar on hurricane preparation and the importance of employee communication. The conversation was led by Paul Yura, a Warning Coordination Meteorologist from the National Weather Service, and Peter Steinfeld, AlertMedia’s VP of Sales.

Paul and Peter provided useful insight on communication best practices that can be utilized as we approach hurricane season in order to ensure employee safety and improve business preparation. If you missed the webinar, you can access the recording here. Read More

The definition of emergency is “a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.” The key word here is “unexpected.” You can’t predict emergencies–but you can still plan for them if you understand your most likely threats. One crucial part of this planning process is creating emergency notification message templates. After all, even if you don’t know the exact nature or time of the next threat, you can be sure that you will be communicating with your employees. Having emergency notification message templates saves you precious time and bandwidth which you can allocate to more pressing needs. Read More

Preparing a business for the unknown requires a series of important steps to protect your employees and your operations. For many business owners, this foundation starts with an emergency plan and grows to include a business continuity plan, an inclement weather policy, and perhaps even a lone worker policy to keep employees safe.

So, you’ve made your emergency plans and identified the best people to lead your teams through each phase. Now, it’s time to practice with the low-cost but high-impact emergency planning event known as a tabletop exercise. Read More