Emergency Evacuation Planning for Your Workplace: From Chaos to Life-Saving Solutions

First ever, all-in-one, practical resource for evacuating people of all ages and health conditions from all kinds of workplaces, including small offices, skyscrapers, stores, industrial plants, hospitals, business and college campuses, and schools. Inspired by the horrific evacuation challenges of 9/11 and authored by a recipient of the Business Continuity's Lifetime Achievement Award, this is an industry-defining book, the result of 12 years' research into global best practices for getting everyone out safely — every time!
Your routine fire drill is no match for the large-scale chaos of major disasters. Today's tragic headlines of deaths from chemical plant explosions, factory fires, and doors, hallways and stairwells thoughtlessly blocked by storage items make it painfully obvious that every organization needs a comprehensive workplace emergency evacuation plan – well researched, well developed, and well rehearsed until individual and group safety behaviors become the default.
World-renowned emergency management practitioner Jim Burtles leads you step-by-step through the kind of planning that saves lives. His comprehensive package of 600+ pages of book and downloads offers a practical toolkit full of innovative and field-tested plans, forms, checklists, tips, and tools for workplace evacuation, including:
* A groundbreaking approach that integrates for the first time the principles and practices of Business Continuity Management (BCM) and Emergency Evacuation Planning (EEP). It offers a methodology based on the Business Continuity Institute's proven 6-Phase Business Continuity Lifecycle Model, which encompasses development, delivery, and maintenance of organization-wide plans – to ensure that your procedures align with best practices, relevant regulations, sound governance, and corporate responsibility.
* Discussion of post-evacuation employee physical and emotional issues, emphasizing that caring for every person's well being entails every step taken from the moment the alarm sounds until everyone is safely back at their desks, back in their homes, safe in an emergency shelter, or has become the responsibility of some other agency.
* Emphasis on the importance of Available Safe Egress Time (ASET) versus Required Safe Egress Time (RSET). Use Burtles' formulas to compare your ASET and RSET under various scenarios and see the results.
* Thought-provoking discussion questions requiring application of principles to solve problems, numerous real-life case studies and examples, comprehensive index and detailed glossary that facilitate both college and professional instruction.
“This is the book that Jim Burtles was destined to write.” — Lyndon Bird, FBCI, Technical Director, The Business Continuity Institute
“Unique, innovative approach to the strategic design and implementation of EEP plans… integrates business continuity management concepts and evacuation planning into a step-by-step program to assist organizations in creating effective practices and procedures to respond to emergency evacuation needs. Chapters are readable and formatted like those of a tax guide or law book, with excellent use of checklists, short summaries, case studies, vignettes, and discussion questions. Recommended.” — Choice Magazine, Association of College and Research Libraries, division of American Library Association.
“Well-written and easy to understand, deserves to be included in the core library of any emergency management professional.” — Security Management Magazine

Jim Burtles, KLJ, CMLJ, FBCI is an internationally acclaimed consultant in Business Continuity Management, with 35+ years' experience in 24 countries. Along with technical assistance in 90+ disasters and guidance for clients in 200+ emergencies, he has orchestrated recoveries for victims of bombings, earthquakes, storms, and fires.