Alertus Virtual Seminar Recap: Roadmap from Preparedness to Recovery

By Rachel Choppin, Marketing Specialist at Alertus Technologies

The Alertus Seminar Series brought together four emergency experts to take the audience on a journey throughout the entire emergency response scenario. These emergency experts provided valuable tools and knowledge into emergency preparedness, emotional recovery, business continuity, and more, to help organizations properly prepare for and address any emergency.

  • Preparing: Addressing Common Mistakes From the Planning Stage Before It’s Too Late

  • During: Crisis Communication: Initial Response Through Recovery

  • Business Continuity: Active Shooter Security Risk Assessments - Lessons from Parkland, Annapolis and Jacksonville Shootings

  • Emotional Support: Terror in the Workplace: Mental Health Lessons Learned from Recent Attacks

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Christopher McLaughlin: Senior Director of Emergency Management and Institutional Assurance

Christopher McLaughlin is the Senior Director of Emergency Management and Institutional Assurance at North Central Texas College. Chris has been in higher education for over 14 years. He leads all safety-related programs for his district including the police department, emergency management, risk management, and environmental health and safety. Chris brought his wealth of knowledge to the seminar to talk about the common mistakes you can make when creating an Emergency Management Plan.


PREPARING: ADDRESSING COMMON MISTAKES FROM THE PLANNING STAGE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

Chris goes into detail about the phases of emergency management, common mistakes people make when creating emergency management plans, and how to create an effective emergency management plan.

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Ben Brewer: Chief Information Security Officer | Senior Director, Professional Services


Ben Brewer, is the Chief Information Security Officer and Senior Director of Professional Services for Alertus Technologies. Ben consults with numerous clients on crisis communications and continuity of operations matters, influences client-focused solution design, facilitates solution configuration and training, and much more. Ben’s crisis management, continuity of operations, and information assurance experience spans more than 30 years. Ben offered valuable insight into the details involved in crisis communication planning, and the importance of implementing emergency notification steps based on his vast experience in crisis management.


DURING: CRISIS COMMUNICATION: INITIAL RESPONSE THROUGH RECOVERY


Ben led the way in discussing the importance of crisis communication planning, the steps involved in emergency notification, and how to issue emergency notifications through the Alertus Console.

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Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton: Risk Expert and Futurist

Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton, Risk Expert, served on the working group to create a Defensive Information Warfare Risk Model for the Secretary of Defense for C4. She has worked on Risk Assessment Models for Active Shooter for PFPA, DOD’s Technical Support Working Group, creating risk models for Nuclear Facilities, Security for Dams and Substations, Hospital Facilities Risk Models, and Medication Error Models. She has even received the Anti-Terrorism Accreditation Board Lifetime Achievement Award. In the seminar, Caroline offered insights as to why an Active Shooter Security Risk Assessment is critical for any organization.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY: ACTIVE SHOOTER SECURITY RISK ASSESSMENTS - LESSONS FROM PARKLAND, ANNAPOLIS AND JACKSONVILLE SHOOTINGS


Caroline discussed why an Active Shooter Security Risk Assessment is critical for business continuity by doing a deep dive into recent active shooter situations from Parkland to Annapolis.

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Suzanne Bernier: President of SB Crisis Consulting & Author of “Disaster Heroes”

Suzanne Bernier is a multi-certified, award-winning, and internationally-recognized Crisis Management Consultant, Trainer, Speaker, and Author, who has helped governments, communities, and companies plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters for over twenty years. She was named 2016’s ‘Continuity & Resilience Consultant of the Year - North America’ by the Business Continuity Institute. Suzanne’s critically-acclaimed book, Disaster Heroes, tells the stories of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things to help respond to and recover from some of the world’s most significant disasters. Suzanne brought her wealth of knowledge to the seminar to talk about the devastating effects that active shooter attacks can have on your employees mental health and workplace.

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT: TERROR IN THE WORKPLACE: MENTAL HEALTH LESSONS LEARNED FROM RECENT ATTACKS

Suzanne outlines the way that active shooter attacks can have a detrimental impact on your workplace and give valuable advice and resources to help support your employees’ mental health in the event of an emergency.

Caroline Kilday