Hotels are unique in the realm of emergency planning. And they need unique solutions.

Every organization is open to risk – but most don’t have hundreds of untrained civilians like your guests on site. Large hotels are susceptible to a wide range of catastrophes. Armed drunks. Fires. Natural disasters. Power outages. Chemical spills inside or at your front door. Are you positive you can protect your guests when disaster strikes?

Our plans and training work. Because we work with you.

Don’t be like the Chairman of the Taj Hotel who said this after the Mumbai attack in 2008, “All our arrangements were in the front.” This planning and training attitude is all too common among hotel managers.

We work closely with management on-site, evaluating your facility and training your employes. We create plans for your facility and your needs. We train your employees directly; we don’t just give you a set of plans and a pat on the back. We drill your staff to make sure they understand their roles in a crisis. And we conduct tabletop or full-scale exercises in your facility to find problem areas.

A hotel on fire is like a sinking cruise ship. Will your staff respond appropriately?

Major hotel fires are common and lethal. When they happen, those emergency floor plans on the wall won’t cut it without a staff trained and exercised regularly on your emergency action plans. Drills and exercises may be costly, but they aren’t as expensive as lawsuit. Even a small fire can cause major panic among your visitors and guests. Unless your entire staff is confident in their training, they can easily make things worse.

Effective hotel emergency planning is critical. Inadequate training can have serious repercussions.

The risks for hotels are huge. When the Taj Mahal India was attacked in 2008, dozens of guests were killed and many more severely injured. As fires erupted and gunfire rang out, the staff managed to get many guests to safety – but others weren’t so lucky. Don’t let this happen to your hotel. We have extensive experience preparing organizations for armed threats, and our president and founder Bo Mitchell has spoken nationally at events focused on training to prepare for an active shooter.

There’s a wealth of resources available. But planning is only half the battle.

DHS, AH&LA, and dozens of other entities have published information on hotel security. But without a certified expert present to implement those resources, an organization is opening the door to disaster. OSHA fines can total hundreds of thousands of dollars, and lawsuits can rise into the millions. Meeting the complex requirements of the OSHA 1910 series of documents (which detail emergency action plan requirements) is difficult. Let us develop custom plans for your facility and prepare your people for any emergency.

We have worked with some pretty big players in the hospitality field. As well as everywhere else.

Waldorf Astoria, YOTEL NYC, Hyatt HQ. Hospitality providers trust us, and for good reason. No one can match our level of experience, professionalism, and detail. Stop trusting one-size-fits-all plans. Trust us. And trust that you’re in good hands. If you want to see our extensive client list, check it out here.

We assess your unique circumstances at your property. Then, we create site-specific plans which we train, drill and exercise. We plan, train, drill and exercise to national standards (AH&LA, DHS, FEMA, ASIS, EPA, OSHA). We structure your emergency team; develop command control and communications procedures that employ the National Incident Command System (NIMS); and get you ready to coordinate with your local emergency services personnel. This brings you up beyond code – it brings your property’s emergency response in line with the cutting edge best practices.

We visit your facility and create plans that account for the most commonly feared incidents, as well as establishing basic plans to meet state, local, and federal requirements as well as AH&LA guidelines. This brings you beyond up to code – it brings your organization’s emergency response in line with the cutting edge best practices. We help you structure emergency teams, develop command control and communications procedures that interface with the national Incident Command System, and get you ready to coordinate with your local emergency services personnel. But we also plan for the unthinkable. Here are a few of our most common services:

• Training for Active Shooters and Bomb Threats: As the Taj Mahal attack in India showed, hotels are extremely soft targets. Most hotels have written plans for active shooters or bomb threats, but what about training and drills? Exercises with local emergency services teams are critical. We have a wealth of experience in working with first responders. Even a hoax active-shooter report will cause chaos and injury at your property. We do the same for bomb threats—so common at properties everywhere.
• Large Scale Fire Planning and Exercises: A major fire is every hotel manager’s worst nightmare. Panicked guests rely on calm and well-trained staff to guide them to safety. With hundreds of guests in your hotel, don’t trust that basic training is sufficient. In-building relocation and Shelter in Place are often the best response. Your guests don’t know this and will try to evacuate even though they may be going towards the emergency to get hurt or killed. Your employees have to be trained often and effectively to exercise this kind of command and control.
• Violence and Sexual Assault: Even though these kinds of incidents are common, many properties have procedures that are thin, untrained, and without drilling or exercising. Search and seizure and crime scene management are hardly ever planned or trained. Most employees have not been trained to recognize and report these incidents as they unfold.
• Command, Control & Communications: No procedures can work without structuring your staff into an effective emergency response team. When the emergency strikes, you must have smart commanders who can effect control through an agile team of employees; all of whom can communicate with each other and with guests, visitors and emergency responders.
• Training: Great plans are a smart thing; training is everything. If you don’t get the words off the paper and into everyone’s heads, you have failed. We have trained 21,000 employees over the last 12 years. When surveyed after training, 98.5% said they were confident that they could effectively respond to any emergency. Our Promise: You give us two hours annually, and we’ll give you back trained employees ready to respond to any emergency at your property.

We offer a full array of safety and security services to luxury hotels, casinos and other hospitality venues. In this era of terrorism, your facility’s safety, security and liabilities are being tested daily. You need to rely on an outside, independent resource to assess, plan, train and exercise your emergency strategies.

Our emergency planning services for hotels and casinos are comprehensive. Contact us for more information.

Make sure your emergency preparedness is up to standard. Check what you want to fortify and what you want to add to your current plan, then contact us. We’ll discuss your needs, provide an estimate, and get to work so you’re protected from unnecessary risk.