Author Archives: Justin Smulison

About Justin Smulison

Justin Smulison is the business content manager at RIMS and the host of RIMScast, the society's weekly podcast.
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Recovery Plans Critical Following Active Shooter Incidents

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October has been mired by mass shootings in the United States. Incidents in which four or more people were shot—the criteria for a mass shooting—have occurred 15 times in the last 18 days. The Oct. 18 occurrence at a business park in Maryland, involving an employee who killed three co-workers on-site and injured two more, has increased the interest in workplace violence and active shooter preparedness plans. As previously reported, only 21% of U.S businesses surveyed felt they were prepared to manage an active shooter situation. And while preventative plans are priorities – and rightfully so – businesses should also consider how to appropriately handle their aftermath.

According to a recent white paper published by Everbridge, Active Shooter Incident Consequence Management and the Roadmap to Recovery, how a company manages the hours, days and weeks following such a crisis is vital for its operations and employees’ well-being. The study offers a four-phase approach for businesses to use following a violent incident:

Immediate Response/Pre-Recovery, which occurs in the minutes and hours following a crisis and when life safety and survival are the top priorities. Accountability, family reunification and media management are additional critical tasks once authorities have secured the workplace and crime scene.

Early Recovery, the most intensive phase, comprises the “hours-to-days along the incident timeline” that sees company managers liaising with hospitals, offering mental health support through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), addressing human resources concerns and invoking the business continuity plan, among other important actions.

Mid-Recovery can be in the week-to-months following an active shooting incident, and is often when some sense of normalcy returns to the workplace and business operations. During this time, there may be some criminal or civil litigation underway and it is the “reasonable time frame” to create an After-Action Report (AAR) to reassess the incident and develop a corrective plan or update the current one. It is also the time to begin planning the one-year anniversary with a high level of employee involvement, which “is an important milestone in individual and organizational recovery, but can also be complicated and emotional.”

Long-Term Recovery is marked by the one-year anniversary and beyond, although “the physical and emotional impact of an active shooter incident can linger for decades, and sometimes an entire lifetime.” According to the report, mass shootings represent the greatest risk for acute traumatic stress disorders among the affected, compared against other types of critical incidents, like natural disasters.

In the report, author Steve Crimando says: “Crisis events are moments of truth: employees, the community, key stakeholders and the media will remember how you handled the incident for a very long time. It is important to prepare for the complex post-shooting environment well before the first shot is fired.”

Between 2014 and 2015, the U.S. experienced nearly six times as many active shooter incidents as it did between 2000 and 2001, according to the FBI.

For tips on developing an active shooter plan, visit Risk Management magazine.

New Voluntary Hot Air Balloon Safety Program Announced

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The Balloon Federation of America (BFA) has instituted new safety accreditation for companies and pilots.

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The Envelope of Safety program was the result of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) year-long call to action from the commercial hot air balloon industry in response to last year’s mid-air accident in Lockhart, Texas which caused 16 fatalities.

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The Envelope of Safety aims to enhance the standards for commercial balloon operators and reduce the risk of injury or death leading up to and during a flight. The program is voluntary and aims to reassure confidence by giving consumers the ability to select a ride company or pilot meeting the new flight worthiness certification. The Envelope of Safety’s missions it to insure that companies and pilots carrying four or more passengers:

  • Are commercially certificated for 18 months
  • Accumulate a specified amount of flight experience
  • Hold a second-class medical certificate from the FAA

Additionally, pilots are required to pass a drug and alcohol background check, attend a BFA-sanctioned safety seminar in the 12 months before takeoff and be enrolled in the FAA WINGS pilot proficiency program.

The program features three levels of safety accreditation—Silver, Gold and Platinum—which detail stringent safety requirements for companies of all sizes. That criteria includes meeting pilot requirements, holding valid aircraft and commercial vehicle insurance and hosting a forum for passengers to rate the company.

While the FAA is not connected to the new program in an official capacity, it did applaud the BFA’s announcement on its own website and promoted it via social media. Following last year’s deadly incident in Texas, the agency was criticized for having previously rejected the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) recommendations for stricter safety oversight regarding commercial hot air balloon travel. That accident, in which a Heart Of Texas Hot Air Balloon Ride vessel crossed power lines, caught fire and plummeted 100 feet to the ground, is considered the worst of its kind in U.S. history.

The NTSB held a board meeting to examine the cause of the July 30, 2016 crash and found the accident attributable to the Heart Of Texas pilot’s pattern of poor decision making, which led to “the initial launch, continuing the flight in fog and above clouds and to dissent near clouds that decreased the pilot’s ability to see and avoid obstacles.” The board believed the operator’s bad judgment may have been exacerbated by the many prescription drugs found in his blood, according to a toxicology report. The board stressed, however, that it did not believe the medications impaired the pilot’s ability to operate the balloon.

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The NTSB recommended that the FAA review its policies based on the findings and, in particular, close a loophole that exempts balloon operators from holding the same second-class medical certification that other aviators must possess.

“Today’s recommendations, if acted upon, will bring the safety standards and oversight of commercial passenger carrying balloon operators closer to those that apply to [general aviation] pilots,” said NTSB Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt.

According to the FAA, 413 people died in 219 general aviation accidents in 2016, with inflight loss of control—mainly stalls—accounting for the largest number of fatal accidents.

Visit the BFA’s site or the FAA’s endorsement for more information regarding the Envelope of Safety.

N. Calif. Wildfires Continue Widespread Destruction

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The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) increased the National Preparedness Level to 3 today due to wildfire activity in eight Northern California counties, including Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino, where evacuations, road, trail and area closures are in effect. Since their start on the night of Oct. 8, the wildfires in California’s wine country have caused 23 deaths and forced more than 20,000 to evacuate, including the entire city of Calistoga. Additionally, hundreds of residents are missing.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Napa, Sonoma and Yuba counties on Oct. 9 and the Presidential Major Disaster Declaration was approved by President Trump on Oct. 10 to support state and local responses. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services also activated the State Operations Center in Mather, California to its highest level.

The 22 uncontained large wildfires have consumed 170,000 acres in California and destroyed nearly 3,500 commercial and residential properties, many of which were in north Santa Rosa. One major difficulty responders are facing is that several fires have merged into complexes—where two or more individual incidents are located in the same general area—with each complex including an average of five fires.

Causes of the fires have not been determined, although downed power lines due to strong winds were reported on Sunday night, about the time of the first fires. Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) said its meteorologists measured the inciting gusts at between 50 and 75 miles per hour on Sunday night, which contributed to nearly 20 North Bay fires and “aided the fires in the Northern parts of the energy company’s service area…and damaged PG&E’s electrical system in some locations.”

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for North Bay Hills today. Heavy winds have consistently hindered efforts to control and contain the fires, and have been clocked at 20 to 30 miles per hour in the area, with some gusts expected to reach 50 miles per hour. According to CoreLogic’s hazard risk analysis, more than 170,000 homes in Napa and Santa Rosa alone are at some level of structural risk from the fires, with about 6% at significant risk.

Utilities have been affected, as well. Officials told SFGate that water systems in isolated areas of Fountaingrove and Oakmont in  Sonoma County have been “compromised,” prompting Santa Rosa police to advise that residents boil tap water used for cooking or drinking. Poor water quality has also become an issue in Napa County.

As reported in Risk Management magazine earlier this month, wildfires in the United States from Jan 1. to Sept. 15 had already burned 8.3 million acres, far exceeding the 10-year average. As of September, the Forest Service and Interior Department had spent more than $2 billion fighting fires this year—making 2017 the most expensive wildfire season on record.

Hurricane Devastation Impacts Health Care Supply Chains

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The destruction caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last month has created major disruptions for the island’s pharmaceutical product and medical device manufacturing facilities. Days of interruption and damage to manufacturing plants are affecting international supply chains for products such as cancer and HIV treatments, immunosuppressants for patients with organ transplants, and small-volume bags of saline, which are necessary for patients who need intravenous solutions.

Puerto Rico is the fifth-largest territory in the world for pharma manufacturing and produces about half of the world’s top-selling patented drugs, according to a 2016 report from Pharma Boardroom. Short-term economic losses are being estimated, while concerns persist about the storm’s long-term effect on employees’ abilities to travel to work, the safety and efficiency of the machinery used and the ability to keep the facilities running on generators. In a statement issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Oct. 6, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb detailed plans to help Puerto Rico recover its medical product and manufacturing base, which he said “are a key component of the island’s economic vigor.”

“[..]even the facilities that sustained relatively minor damage are running on generator power. They could be without commercial power for months…Moreover, most of the facilities that we know of, that have resumed production, maintain only partial operations. New shortages could result from these disruptions and shortages that existed before the storms could potentially be extended.”

Citing data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gottlieb said that pharmaceutical products manufactured in Puerto Rico “make up nearly 10% of all drugs consumed by Americans. And that doesn’t even account for medical devices.” He noted that the FDA is keeping a close watch on about 40 critical pharmaceutical and biological drug products which, in the event of a shortage, “could have substantial impact on the public health.”

He added, “In urgent cases, when critical products are at issue, we’ve intervened over the last two weeks to help firms secure fuel to maintain production lines, get clearance to move logistical support into the island or finished goods to their recipients.”

The Washington Post reported that more than four dozen FDA-approved drugmaking facilities are in Puerto Rico, including ones owned by Pfizer Inc., Merck, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Amgen. Baxter International Inc., which the Post cited as being the “dominant player” in the IV market, issued a statement acknowledging the impact of the storm on its operations:

Our sites sustained minimal damage, and we’ve initiated limited production activities in all of our facilities. In addition, we are examining all opportunities to leverage Baxter’s global manufacturing network as we continue efforts to restore operations in Puerto Rico.

As it relates to product supply, in advance of the hurricanes, we implemented our hurricane preparedness plan to help mitigate potential impact. We have also been delivering products to customers in Puerto Rico to help address patient need on the island. And we are continuing to proactively communicate with our customers the actions we are taking to minimize potential disruptions, including closely managing product inventory.

Not all facilities have suffered damage, however. Amgen announced on its site that back-up generators are powering its Puerto Rican site and that, “No product nor in-process inventory has been lost, and … the inventory maintained by the Company and its global distribution network is sufficient to meet patient demand.”