Is your association fully equipped with an HOA emergency preparedness plan? Whether you're a part of a high-rise in Las Vegas or a single-family community in Sparks, emergencies can strike without warning. The complexities of accounting for every detail might seem overwhelming but crafting a thoughtful preparedness plan can bolster your readiness for unexpected events.
Your community's emergency strategy isn't a one-size-fits-all. Numerous variables, such as the nature of your community or building, location, available resources, and demographics, tailor your specific requirements. Despite these variances, following these eight basic steps can help your association devise an effective and, potentially, lifesaving plan.
How to write an emergency preparedness plan.
1. Start an emergency preparedness committee.
Planning for unexpected emergencies requires focus and commitment. This is why you should think about setting up a task force or repurposing an existing group (like a security committee), to undertake initial investigations and suggest strategies.
It's crucial to present all emergency plans at board meetings, then effectively communicate these to all residents, ensuring everyone understands their responsibilities during every phase of a crisis. Collaborate with your management company to guarantee that residents are consistently updated on your emergency preparedness plan and informed about alterations to current plans.
2. Define your mission.
What is the mission of your emergency plan? While the overall goal should be to protect and preserve your community, make sure you have a specific mission in mind. How do you determine this mission? According to FirstService Residential experts, your committee should speak with communities that have already developed emergency plans. This can help you better understand what your mission needs to be and what details need to be included in your plan. Your management company should help facilitate these discussions.
3. Create or update an emergency contact list.
If you don’t already have one, create a list with emergency contact information, including phone numbers, addresses and websites, and distribute this list throughout the community. Work with your management company on the distribution, utilizing their communication tools and determining what makes the most sense for your community (e.g., printed flyers, emails, etc.). The contact list should include local hospitals, radio stations, on-site security staff, utility companies and your association management company.
This contact list should be layered into a larger document of HOA standard operating procedures (SOP). If you don’t already have an SOP, your management company should provide you with guidance and resources to help develop and execute emergency protocols for your community.
4. Communicate the plan with residents and staff.
A successful HOA emergency preparedness plan hinges on communication. After your overseeing committee gives approval, cooperate with your administrative team to disperse either a physical or online copy to occupants and on-site personnel. Each member should be provided with a printed reference manual consisting of crucial contact information, knowledge about the emergency reaction team, guidance for managing different emergency scenarios, and specifics about the communal gathering location and timing during crisis situations. This document should be revised yearly or every two years, with the board periodically reminding the community of the plan's existence.
Communication is especially critical during an actual disaster situation, so be sure you are working with a management company that provides you with a system to alert residents of an emergency. FirstService Residential provides communities with its Connect mass communication tool to alert residents about upcoming meetings, community events and emergency situations via email, text and robocall.
5. Get appropriate training.
Effective emergency preparedness training is vital, as rapid responses during emergencies can potentially be lifesaving. Increasing your skillset with knowledge in CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation] and first aid is particularly beneficial for board members and staff. This program enhances your understanding of important topics like emergency action plans, safe evacuation routes, and effective communication strategies.
Management companies often provide valuable emergency preparedness training. For instance, FirstService Residential regularly organizes training seminars, designed to equip board members with the necessary resources for constructing their emergency preparedness plan and assembling an adequate emergency kit.
6. Form an emergency action team.
When a crisis occurs, you may not be able to rely on outside sources for help. That’s why it’s key to form an emergency action team. Work with your management team to help identify homeowners who would be willing to jump into action during an emergency.
For instance, about 75 homeowners volunteered to be on the emergency team at a 1,070-unit master-planned community. “Even though we’re very close to the fire department, we found out that we might not be able to count on firefighters showing up quickly in a disaster because their priority might be somewhere that’s more populated,” said the community manager. “In some cases, we need to rely on homeowners.”
7. Determine resources you have and those you need to obtain.
Are you considering the necessity of hoarding water or gasoline? Have you thought about investing in first aid kits? Even though these might appear to be crucial investments for emergency preparedness, you may not be aware of the wealth of resources you potentially have right in your local community.
8. Partner with neighboring associations.
As the familiar saying goes, “we’re all in this together.” Joining forces with other associations can provide additional help in times of crisis. FirstService Residential community managers meet with other communities and share our progress reports with them. By joining forces and sharing best practices, we’ve developed some great relationships.