9 Emergency Situations, 1 Tip Sheet to Keep Handy

It’s a typical day at work. You’re reaching for your third cup of coffee when your desk phone rings. You answer it, stating your department and name, and an unknown person on the line tells you, “There’s a bomb in your building.” What would you do?

The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services (OES) has written up a handy flier with tips and a  checklist for every employee to print and keep at their desk in the event of an emergency. The sheet offers specific advice on what to do in a wide range of situations, including: a bomb threat; a suspicious object or mail package; an active shooter in the building; a crime in progress; a medical emergency; a fire; an earthquake; an evacuation; or a directive to shelter in place. Any decisions about whether to evacuate a County facility will be made by law enforcement on scene and in coordination with a facility manager. While these scenarios are unlikely, it’s best to be prepared.

“We are making this information available as part of a continued effort to promote workplace safety and security,” said Holly Crawford, OES director. “This is not the result of any specific or known threat to County facilities or personnel.”

The two-page flier is available here.

“The idea for employees is to print this out double-sided, review it and become familiar with it,” said Stephen Rea, OES assistant director. “Keep it close by your desk. In the case of a bomb threat, one of the recommendations is to get somebody’s attention. You can use the document—hold it up, and point to where it says Bomb Threat to alert other employees nearby while you are on the phone.”

So continuing the bomb threat scenario, here are the specific recommendations:  Stay calm and courteous and hear out the caller in case they give more information or make demands. Alert co-workers by holding up a piece of paper, or your flier, so that they can try to listen in and call 9-1-1 from another phone to report the information.

You should call 9-1-1 immediately if the caller hangs up quickly.

Do not interrupt the caller but do try to keep him or her on the line as long as possible. Try to note any background noise that could give a clue as to the caller’s location.

If possible, ask questions to keep them on the phone and to try to gather information even if you don’t expect them to tell you what you need to know. Ask him or her where the bomb is located, when it is set to explode, what it looks like, what it is made of, and what sets it off. Ask the person if he or she placed the bomb there and why they did it. Ask them where they are calling from and ask their name, in case they give it to you. These questions are listed on the flier.

A descriptive word list is also included on the flier for employees to reference when trying to describe what the caller’s voice sounded like when making the threat.

Another employee or a responding sheriff’s deputy can look at the information that you are writing down while you are still on the phone with the caller.

But is there anyone else in the department such as your supervisor, or in the building that you should notify as well?

“Yes, it’s important to notify 911 immediately, but it’s also important to notify other people in the County who can help everyone get back to work once it’s safe,” said Rea.

The flier includes an organizational chart showing who should be notified. Again, if you are on the phone with the caller, another employee can assist with these next steps.

The flier lists the safety protocol for evaluating and handling suspicious objects or mail as well as instructions for seven other emergency scenarios. Some of the advice listed may be familiar, but some scenarios such as an active shooter have been added due to increased frequency in other areas.

If you’re wondering now, in a case of an active shooter, the first choice is to run if you can escape safely. Leave belongings behind and help others along the way whenever possible. Call 9-1-1 after you are safe. If escape is not possible, hide, silence your cell phone and remain quiet. Your last resort is to fight--only if your life is in danger.

To read more about what you can do in the unlikely event of an emergency at work, please print out the flier.