Baby, work today was a disaster….

admin January 07, 2009 contingency planning 3 Comments

Today we had a campus-wide “tabletop emergency response exercise” as part of the campus disaster planning thingie–I have no idea what they’re calling it–emergency ops? Whatev. Here are some pointers:

  • have a designated emergency operations center. This is where, if there’s a disaster, we would go, assuming it wasn’t wiped off the face of the earth. And, if it is wiped off the face of the earth, then the “grab bag” (see below) will allow you to recreate the ops center on the fly…
  • create what I’m calling a “grab bag”: this is the stuff you grab if there’s an emergency: laptop & power supply; cell phone/pda & charger; USB or SD card with emergency protocols, systems info, contact info and paper copy of the above; a giant post-it pad; regular pad of paper; writing utensils; markers; blank name badges; portable digital projector if possible.
  • know how to use your satellite network connection
  • know how to activate your offsite emergency website–you know, the one you’re paying some hosting service that sounds like “Ho Daddy” $9.95 a year to provide–and while you’re at it, make sure you’ve got their free blogging tool installed as well to enable easy updates, content managment, and RSS info.

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3 Responses to “Baby, work today was a disaster….”

  1. kdghty said:

    Jan 08, 09 at 8:44 pm

    can’t we all just hold hands and walk off with a smile into the nuclear glow?

  2. cec said:

    Jan 12, 09 at 8:24 am

    Hrm, I was going about this all wrong. When I read a grab bag of stuff you grab in an emergency, I was thinking more along the lines of the emergency kit in Dr. Strangelove (use best Slim Pickins imitation here):

    * 1 .45 automatic.
    * 2 boxes of ammunition.
    * 4 days’ concentrated emergency rations.
    * 1 drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills.
    * 1 miniature combination Russian phrase book and Bible.
    * 100 dollars in rubles.
    * 100 dollars in gold.
    * 9 packs of chewing gum.
    * 1 issue of prophylactics.
    * 3 lipsticks.
    * 3 pairs of nylon stockings.

    I may have my priorities wrong.

    -c

  3. admin said:

    Jan 13, 09 at 3:38 pm

    Actually, c, maybe your priorities are right. But the “nylon” stockings and the Russ-ky emphasis may be dated. Still, though, just right, especially if we need to protect our precious bodily fluids…

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