Planning for the Worst: CU Disaster Preparedness a Must

As the saying goes, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. This old adage is especially relevant when it comes to emergency preparedness – from natural disasters to robberies to server outages – and credit unions need to be prepared for a variety of emergency situations.

It seems every day I turn on the news and see the impacts of another emergency, from last year’s hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, to this year’s ongoing volcano eruption in Hawaii and numerous school shootings around the country. While credit unions certainly can’t control these events, they can be prepared when something does happen through training, and by implementing an emergency preparedness and crisis communications plan.

I came to realize the high value of training and emergency preparedness after I took a job as a teller and an armed robber held up the bank where I was working. He came to me first and gave me his ransom note. I knew what to do and what not to do because our trainers had covered it in my orientation training. I complied with his demand, gave him the money and alerted authorities when it was safe to do so. As you can see, the training worked because I’m here telling you about it now.

If your credit union doesn’t have a plan and needs help with creating one, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has a comprehensive plan on how businesses can prepare for emergencies. Here are some tips FEMA offers, which I’ve tailored for the credit union industry:

Write a crisis communications plan. Detail how your organization plans to communicate with employees, local authorities, members and others during and after a disaster.

• This could mean ensuring you have pre-drafted content for various types of emergencies so you can easily distribute it to employees or the public through different communications channels.
• Detail the channels through which you will communicate. Certain emergencies may not always require public awareness or notification.
• The plan should indicate how to react in the event of various emergencies, including weather-related disasters, robberies, server outages or local tragedies (such as the recent school shooting in Texas, which forced the nearby $939 million Amoco Federal Credit Union to close its branch).
• Tailor the recovery plan to your geographic area. For example, if you live in the Midwest, you don’t need to include volcano eruptions as a scenario in your plan.

Talk to co-workers with disabilities. If a co-worker has physical limitations that may make it difficult for them to quickly evacuate, determine in advance how you will communicate with and potentially move them should they need assistance.

Have emergency supplies. Keep water, food and blankets on hand in case you’re stuck in the building for a prolonged amount of time.

Make an evacuation plan. Ensure employees know how to get out of the building in an emergency and develop a plan for making sure everyone is accounted for after an evacuation.

Make a shelter-in-place plan. Sometimes circumstances, such as a tornado, may require you to stay in place. You should have a plan for where to go should this happen.

Practice the plan with co-workers. Have routine emergency preparedness trainings. If employees don’t know what the plans are, the plans are useless.

Promote family and individual preparedness. Encourage employees to have an emergency preparedness plan with their family members.

Prepare for utility disruptions. FEMA noted, “Businesses are often dependent on electricity, gas, telecommunications, sewer and other utilities. Plan ahead for extended disruptions during and after a disaster. Carefully examine which utilities are vital to your business’ day-to-day operation. Speak with service providers about potential alternatives and identify back-up options such as portable generators to power the vital aspects of your business in an emergency.”

Support employees after a disaster. Disasters take an emotional toll on employees, so provide additional support and allow for flexibility after a disaster.

Review your plans annually. As technology and circumstances change, your crisis communications plan may need updating. Review it annually to make sure it remains current and relevant.

Having a plan matters, but don’t just take my word for it. The $200 million JetStream Federal Credit Union based in Miami Lakes, Fla., was prepared when Hurricane Maria hit its Puerto Rico-based branch last year.

Jeanne Kucey, president/CEO of JetStream, said the credit union has a comprehensive disaster recovery plan with team member training. She said staffers communicated via the website, email and cell phone to keep everyone up to date, and they regularly updated employee emergency contact information. Thankfully, the branch withstood the hurricane and had a reliable generator, which provided the branch with power for about 90 days intermittently when the power went up and down.

Is your credit union prepared? If not, it’s never too late. Get started on a plan today. You can thank me later!

If you have stories about how your credit union weathered a disaster – whether it was man made or natural – send them to me at the email address below.

Tahira Hayes is a correspondent-at-large for CU Times. She can be reached at thayes@cutimes.com.