Premium On Safety - Issue 12, 2013 - 4

Emergency Response Plan: Navigating
the Aftermath
Will Your ERP Get You Through?
BY PAUL RATTÉ

must. That’s the dividend from ERP drills.
If the group had not worked with it before,
the plan’s unfamiliarity would be adding
rather than relieving confusion now. In
this article we’ll move past how the ERP
activates and focus on what happens
after it’s up and running. Again, the intent
is to optimize performance.
USAIG’s ERP review team finds that
plans often concentrate many
steps on just one or two key
people, which can overwhelm
these few responders and
delay important tasks. A
hedge against this is designing
plans in parallel rather than
in series, so more people are
doing different tasks at the
same time. Consider which
tasks need specific expertise
(for instance, someone from
PR or Communications should
handle public affairs) and
which are more flexible. People
will want to help at a time like
this and it will be good for
them to do so. Travel options
to the accident area need to
be researched, the “go kit”
By profession, USAIG’s claims team
needs shipping, and a myriad
of other logistical details have
deals with accidents more often than
to be worked. It’s smart to
package flexible functions into
your team does. You want to leverage
succinct checklists that can
be assigned to anyone. The
that experience as soon as possible.
“specialty” steps do need to
be matched carefully to positions with the
To reset the stage, we’ll presume a call
right expertise, but the depth chart must
came in with alarming but incomplete
be deep enough so everyone’s list stays
information about an incident involving
manageable.
a company aircraft. Your ERP was actiChallenges will be nonstop, so you’ll
vated; a serious mishap was confirmed;
regret leaving anything vague that can
a response team was formed. Everyone
be clarified in advance. Just like in the
is in turmoil. The situation is disturbaircraft, detailed checklists will calm
ing, but the ERP has, so far, prevented
and focus people. For instance, securing
the emotional tempest from turning into
records is in every ERP. Does your plan
paralysis. What’s going on is not normal,
say which records? Where are they kept?
but your ERP provides a framework of
Where exactly will they be locked down?
normalcy that helps people do what they

My article in the last issue of Premium
on Safety discussed challenges confronted in the first hour or so after an
aircraft accident is reported. The idea
was to trigger some thinking about how
your Emergency Response Plan (ERP)
activates and how confident you are it
will launch smoothly. This article picks up
where the other left off.

Who gets the key? This can and should
be clear. Your goal is to establish a chain
of custody on the maintenance records
of the aircraft, the personnel and training records of the crew, and the dispatch,
manifest, servicing, and flight planning
paperwork for the mishap flight. Separate
steps on the human resources, maintenance, and dispatcher checklists might
cue pulling the records, making working
copies, and delivering originals to the
lock-down point automatically. If your ERP
has specifics, you’ll spend minimum effort
on this, yet be confident it will hold up to
scrutiny. Consider all the “have to dos”
in your ERP, visualize their process flows,
then lay out logical steps clear enough
for even someone who does not normally handle the function to follow. Every
nuance can’t be covered in advance, but
the best plans reviewed by USAIG’s ERP
team flesh out basic strategies for foreseeable needs.
Pre-aligning with support contractors
is another way to reduce angst. If your
resources are not extensive, commercial
sources can help with family assistance,
media relations, and other needs. If that’s
your approach, the key to success is to
build those relationships beforehand.
Trying to set up working and business
relationships under the strain of an actual
mishap is unlikely to get you best service
or value, and may even do more harm
than good. Any provider worth your attention should welcome a chance to get to
know you by participating and even assisting in your response planning and exercises. Specifics on contracted services
and how they’re activated belong in your
ERP. Remember, too, that your insurance
company and broker are already your partners. Your plan should trigger calling them
early. This will open a door to real-time
advice and connections, and prevent you
from going it alone on matters like site
security, salvage, care of remains and personal effects, legal representation, and
(continued on page 5)

Premium On Safety - Issue 12, 2013

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