Emergency Response Management: Planning, Leadership and Communication

Many emergency plans are written to satisfy an audit and are never tested in realistic conditions. When an incident happens, the command structure is improvised, senior managers step into operational detail, information arrives late or conflicting, and the first public statement is either delayed or wrong. The damage to people, operations and reputation grows with each hour of confusion.

This programme follows the emergency management cycle. It starts with risk-based planning and preparedness, moves to command and control structures and decision making during the response, then covers crisis communication and stakeholder management, and ends with exercising, recovery and learning.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references ISO 22320 for emergency management and incident response, ISO 22361 for crisis management, ISO 22301 for business continuity, ISO 22398 guidance on exercises, and NFPA 1660, which now incorporates the former NFPA 1600. It also draws on incident command system principles used by emergency services.

Decisions this programme improves. Which scenarios the plan must cover, who holds command at each level, when to escalate from an incident to a crisis, what to tell staff, authorities and the public and when, how to prioritise competing demands, and when to move from response to recovery.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: a major incident at an industrial site near a residential area. Participants develop the response structure, make decisions as the scenario unfolds, prepare holding statements and run a short tabletop exercise with a structured debrief.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own risk profile, emergency plans, command structure and regulatory context, and can include a tabletop exercise based on a scenario relevant to your operations.

Who Should Attend

Senior managers: managers with decision-making roles during emergencies and crises

Emergency and HSE leaders: heads of HSE, emergency planning, security and fire safety

Operations leaders: plant managers, shift superintendents and site managers

Business continuity and risk managers: staff responsible for continuity, resilience and enterprise risk

Communication leaders: heads of corporate communication, media relations and government relations

Objectives

Analyse emergency scenarios and prioritise them by likelihood and impact

Structure an emergency response plan with clear roles, triggers and escalation criteria

Establish command and control arrangements at operational, tactical and strategic levels

Apply structured decision-making methods under time pressure and uncertainty

Coordinate with emergency services, regulators and other external stakeholders

Build shared situational awareness through effective information management

Prepare crisis communication messages for staff, media, the public and authorities

Deliver a credible media statement and handle difficult questions

Design and run a tabletop exercise and capture lessons learned

Plan the transition from response to recovery and business continuity

Course Outline

Planning for Emergencies that Matter

Emergency, incident and crisis: definitions and escalation
Risk assessment and scenario selection
Structure and content of an emergency response plan
Resources, facilities and mutual aid arrangements
Links with business continuity and crisis management
Keeping plans usable and current

Command, Control and Coordination

Operational, tactical and strategic levels
Incident command system principles
Roles and responsibilities in the emergency team
Coordinating with emergency services and authorities
Emergency operations centres and virtual coordination
Managing resources, logistics and welfare

Leading and Deciding Under Pressure

The behaviour of people and teams in emergencies
Decision-making models for uncertain situations
Situational awareness and information management
Avoiding common decision traps
Leader presence, stress and fatigue management
Ethical decisions and duty of care

Crisis Communication and Stakeholder Trust

Principles of crisis communication
Why the source of a message matters as much as the content
Holding statements and message development
Media interviews and press conferences
Social media monitoring and misinformation
Communicating with staff, families and communities
Coordination with government communication channels

Exercising, Recovery and Learning

Types of exercises: drills, tabletop and full-scale
Designing objectives and scenarios for exercises
Running debriefs and after-action reviews
Transition from response to recovery
Protecting reputation during recovery
Turning lessons learned into plan improvements
Action plan for your organisation

Competencies

Emergency risk assessment and scenario planning

Emergency response plan development

Command and control structures

Decision making under pressure

Multi-agency coordination

Situational awareness and information management

Crisis communication and media handling

Exercise design and debriefing

Recovery and business continuity transition

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