External contacts with the emergency services are a vital and often overlooked area when preparing continuity plans. These are agencies and people who can give a great deal of help and knowledge but who can also cause plans to fail if overlooked.

Once you have the basis of your plans in place, it is a valuable exercise to arrange interviews with the local fire officer, the crime prevention officer at your nearest police station and the emergency planning officer at the local authority offices.

Fire/EMS...

Most fire officers will be grateful that you have taken the time to acquaint them with your recovery strategy and can offer useful advice on how to deal with aspects such as bomb threats, fire evacuation, major structural damage, etc. You can get their involvement in regular fire drills and also scenario planning once your plans become more mature and robust.

If you can produce a floor layout diagram for your building with any hazardous areas highlighted and all key information added, you will become their friend for life and it will stand your business in good stead should you be unfortunate enough to suffer any major incidents. In a severe fire, both the fire brigade forensic and the police forensic will be involved in order to determine the exact cause of the fire.

Having an established relationship with the responding local fire department could be the difference between taking weeks to resolve and having an answer and clearance to begin resurrection within days. If your building contains a lot of plastic or other materials which emit toxic gases when burnt, it may be subject to a quarantine period while these are checked and then cleansed from the facility. The fire department can also assist in recommending expert salvage companies, structural engineers and a variety of tradesmen who are available 24 hours a day.

Police...

The police department and/or DPS can provide you with a wealth of information and statistics concerning the environment around your business location. They will often provide a free security check of your establishment and regular updates on crime statistics.

Like the fire officer, he/she is an excellent contact to have on your side and will appreciate the chance to discuss the services offered with you and your company. The police department will also be able to describe in detail the extent of the barricade erected in the event of any major incident and to provide you with a large-scale map showing the location of your building. This information can then be fed into the risk assessment process and from there into the continuity plans.

Keeping the police department aware of your intention in the event of invoking recovery can pay substantial dividends in terms of better co-operation and goodwill from the responding police officers.

Conclusion...

External contacts will not create your plans for you but with their help and guidance you can establish relationships with the key people within the emergency services close to your location. You can also gain a mutual understanding of each other's intentions in the event of any incident that might befall your organization. This common understanding can ease recovery and, in many cases, speed up the response and service that is supplied to your business. In an age where "time is money", any saving in recovery time should be seized and building relationships that can take some of the stress out of the process can only be good for all concerned.