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Despite thorough emergency and continuity planning and responses, the fall semester is still up in the air. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is extremely infectious, and puts immense pressure on higher education institutions to find a safe approach for educating students in the fall. Some schools have already started exploring the idea, and have come up with a few key points and ideas to consider or include in a return-to-school plan.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us to completely reconsider and restructure our work lives. Eventually, however, we will return to a form of normalcy. For organizations, this means planning the return to work, and ensuring it goes properly. And because this will most likely happen before the pandemic is truly over, organizations will need to put strict measures in place to contain the spread of the virus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched every part of our society. The economy, and the markets and businesses within it, have been forced to change—or radically transform—to stay afloat during this time.

One of the biggest pieces of a recovery, for eligible organizations, is securing reimbursements from FEMA. These submissions require supporting documentation, which isn’t always captured during the response phase. Since FEMA has expanded its Public Assistance Program to include COVID-19 response related expenses, it’s a good time to explore how organizations start streamlining their recovery now without interrupting their response.

Colleges and universities may face the most complex reopening challenges of any industry. These organizations must not only plan for their employees and students to return, but to reopen and continue operating numerous and diverse facilities, like labs, as well. On May 21st, 2020, the Veoci team invited four emergency managers from higher education to participate in a webinar and discuss their experiences responding to the pandemic, and how they’re approaching reopening with their organization. 

Reconstitution planning is and will not be simple, and the exact shape it takes for an organization will depend on that organization’s operations. How should private and public sectors approach reopening, and what differences will planners need to keep in mind? 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many organizations continue to ask themselves and local and state governments when they can bring employees back to the office, and start building towards normalcy again. How can businesses and organizations prepare for the return to the office/reopening and structure their reconstitution plans?

The pandemic will add another layer of complexity to the responses of teams across the Caribbean and the Southeastern US. What are some of the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters mixing, and what can people do to prepare for natural disasters that occur during this pandemic?

Non-essential businesses and organizations across the country (and the world) have shifted to a remote work structure to keep their workers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to comply with widespread stay-at-home and lockdown orders.

Most of the U.S., and the world, locked down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to curb the spread of the virus. This required non-essential businesses, and some government agencies, to close their doors temporarily, which came with losses (and it continues to).

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) went into law on April 1st, 2020. This piece of legislation serves both businesses and workers, protecting businesses from losing funds if a worker becomes infected with COVID-19, and, by extension, employees if they need to spend their time caring for themselves or a family member with the illness.

The Joint Commission helps ensure hospitals meet certain preparedness standards through an accreditation program. The commission’s surveyor will score the hospital, determining if they receive the stamp fo approval. Inspections are random, however, compounding the need for hospitals to always be prepared for disasters (and a Joint Commission surveyor by extension).

One midwestern medical network needed a solution to fill the vacancies created by responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The easiest solution is to ask existing staff and personnel within the network to pick up the extra work.

Expense tracking is key during the recovery phase. This data not only helps a response team create corrective actions and implement them for future responses, but may also help it secure reimbursement from FEMA (if eligible.) It can also be used to support insurance claims.

We can, at times, see a breakdown of our communication pathways. A situation like the COVID-19 pandemic may be the perfect time for your team to find those holes, as extreme stress and conditions of the event will make those gaps clear. Let’s identify some of the gaps, and what you can do to prevent them from developing in future crises.

In this webinar series, we’ve explored the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the disease it causes (COVID-19), and how our body responds to it and pathogens like it. Now, we’re going to look at it from the perspective of a practitioner. In this entry of the webinar series, four of Veoci’s continuity, planning, and response practitioners discuss what the pandemic means for practitioners across all industries and sectors.

In our continuing series on COVID-19(Coronavirus), we partnered with Dr. Paula Kavathas, Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Immunobiology at the Yale University School of Medicine, to learn more about how viruses work, how the body responds to the invaders, and impact of vaccines on disease prevention.

As both emergency management and continuity software providers and practitioners, we understand the positive impact all information can have over the course of a response or activation. To help those responding to the pandemic, we’ve partnered with Marie Louise Landry, M.D., from Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine, to provide accurate information about the coronavirus and enable responders fighting its spread.

Everyone wants to do what they can to not only stay healthy, but also limit the infectability of COVID-19. At the individual level, practicing good hygiene and heeding the advice of health officials and professionals will contribute to keeping others safe and healthy. We should also ask what organizations and businesses can do in the wake of COVID-19. What could a case of COVID-19 mean for business continuity? How should your business respond, and what’s the best way to do so?

While Part 139 inspections (for the airports that should or opt to pursue the FAA certification) are important, airport managers should also give their attention to other airport operations. Inspections, whether they’re done as Part 139 requires or not, play critical and functional roles across all sides of an airport.

API-driven data exchanges and communications are a significant advantage for EOC managers and stakeholders responding to events. Because of the importance of information during an emergency, the single system environment APIs can create is something all emergency managers should implement in their EOCs.

There are notable differences between the two laws, however, and those differences are worth a discussion. In a past blog, we explored the impact of the GDPR on crisis management and business continuity, so we’re going to do something similar for the CCPA. What does the CCPA mean for incident response and business continuity?

Today’s platforms are extremely robust, offering emergency managers multiple tools and flexibility during both daily operations and emergencies. And to do this, these platforms take advantage of today’s most enabling computing technology, which includes the cloud.

2020 will bring exciting things. Even in the absence of flying cars, the sci-fi writer’s favorite year can still deliver shiny tech and new ideas. Nothing will be exempt, which means in 2020, or the following years, we may see some changes to emergency management. But what kind of changes do we see in the coming years?

The business continuity and emergency management managers of MIT, NYU, and VCU came together for a panel discussion on the challenges—and solutions—of being the engines behind these vital programs.

We’ve all seen a watch or a warning issued when severe weather hits. And, because we’ve seen these calls before, we assume we know what they mean. But have you ever stopped and thought about how forecasters and meteorologists come to their conclusions?

Risks today are increasingly interconnected, and the future forecasts a tighter bond will form between them. And thanks to the modern world’s web of risks, businesses and organizations can never be sure which dominoes will fall when an incident kicks off. Preparation, through business continuity planning, is essential for any entity hoping to have a lasting impact.

Lauren creates, shapes, and delivers critical crisis management solutions for Veoci’s higher education customers as a Solutions Engineer. With her years of experience as an emergency and continuity planner at both the county and university levels, she can continue making an impact on campuses across the country through this role.

Oddly, this is where the issue we brought up earlier originates from. A significant portion of the workforce is aging, and their impending departures, coupled with their decades of experience in one role at an organization, create a new risk: the loss of institutional knowledge.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), the California-based utility that provides service to almost two-thirds of the state, initiated a public safety power shutoff (PSPS) on October 9th to around 500,000-800,000 of its customers. Most of those customers reside in the northern part of the state in counties surrounding San Francisco and Sacramento. A lesser portion also resides around Los Angeles.

Anyone with the will and skill could crack the bug, which spelled serious danger for MuleSoft’s users and those users’ customers. MuleSoft needed to patch the bug immediately. And they did, all while making their customers aware of an issue that could’ve flown under the radar.

Here's an account of Mark’s career, the lessons he’s learned, and how he envisions the future of emergency management and response.

Here are some tips for keeping you and others safe when a disaster or emergency forces you to power up your generator.

In the September 2019 issue of Airport Improvement Magazine, an article details how 29 Northern Ontario airports digitized SMS (safety management system) with Veoci.

Any possible outage instigators are always on the minds of utilities, too, and the reason for a handful of proactive programs, including vegetation management.

Preventive maintenance can offer many long-term benefits to its practitioners. This methodology has a lot of application, with use cases in almost every industry. Anywhere where machines, equipment, tools, or assets need to be in good condition to get the job done, preventive maintenance should be the engine behind it all.

Since being introduced to the market, drones have been used by enthusiasts around the world to gain all-new perspectives, including shots of wildfires, even at a risk to others.

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be front and center in an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). So when the opportunity presented itself, I accepted without hesitation. I’ve always found that experience is the best teacher.

Five days before hitting the Florida panhandle, Hurricane Michael was nothing more than a slight disturbance making its way towards the Gulf of Mexico.Over the next five days, a historic hurricane developed in the gulf. Hurricane Michael soon swelled to become the fourth category 5 hurricane to make landfall in US history.

We see that towns across the country demonstrate a clear need for evacuation plans from officials. What do these plans need to contain, and how can a town make sure the official plan is accessible?

Exercising a BCP is rarely as simple as the online guides suggest. A business continuity manager has to jump through a lot of hoops to get that final, show-ready polish on a BCP. They’re often chasing buy-in from each corner of the organization and bugging business unit leads and department managers to test BCPs and record the outcomes. What can a business continuity manager do to encourage the heads in their organizations to actively participate and do their part in preparing for disruptions?

How much damage can a business system outage cause? As is pretty clear these days, they happen often, and can have serious impact. Take, for example, Visa’s payment network outage. On June 1st, 2018, Visa’s payment system in Europe went down for nearly ten hours, halting many personal and bank transactions. The massive, complex nature of the system made it difficult to pinpoint the root cause of the outage, adding hours of downtime and many degrees of frustration for the company’s customers. After performing their root cause analysis, the company identified a “very rare partial failure” of a switch in one of their data centers as the cause of the outage.

Hurricanes, wildfires, and tornadoes each leave distinct impacts on the regions they affect. This leaves one question: What are the most destructive natural disasters (of these types) in history? How much damage does each type of disaster cause, and what contributes to their destructive potential?

If there was one very clear theme to this year’s DRI conference in Las Vegas, it was the importance of having a diverse community in the world of business continuity management (BCM). From the sessions to the talking points in the exhibit hall, it’s clear that the future of BCM depends on having a strong and diverse community of practitioners and leaders. Here’s our top 5 takeaways from DRI 2019.

Responding to major business disruptions are a company-wide effort. Every team gets involved during the response and recovery. But despite how great having help from every angle is, it can be disruptive and throw the cart of the rails quickly. How do you keep a steady course through these difficult crisis management challenges?

Just after lunch one day, you receive this email: “Can you send me the password for our network? I just can’t seem to remember it right now. Thanks.” At first, this seems a bit weird to you. No one in your office asks for passwords over email. But you also remember that some of your colleagues from another office are visiting for the next couple of days, so now this seems somewhat plausible.

In early October 2018, the president signed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA) in tandem with the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018. After extreme wildfire and hurricane seasons in 2017, FEMA and Congress worked hard to reform how US communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. The result of that is this bill.

On December 12th, 2017, user Primpwatcher at phantompilots.com posted a video of their latest drone outing on a message board. When you watch the video, see if you notice what they saw when they watched the flight footage back.

A strong social services program can make a big difference in a community. It’s why some of New Haven’s own residents run the city’s Youth Stat program, a school-based intervention program seeking to reduce justice involvement and improve health and wellness outcomes in students from elementary and postsecondary education.

There’s a lot of paper, email chains, work, and time involved for every facility running EOC Rounds. But it doesn’t need to this strenuous.

In April 2018, Hodges and Friel organized a reunification drill on campus. The drill mimicked what would happen during a real evacuation.

Those who did receive notifications via text weren’t given the total picture, however. The text notification was incomplete.

The safety management system is built on hazard reporting and risk assessment. But what will tomorrow's safety management sytem look like?

Veoci’s Geoff Baum recently penned an article about Veoci’s move to Vue and Vuetify on Medium. Learn more about this innovation and Veoci’s future.

Responding to a data breach is a high-pressure situation, especially when you consider the EU's newest privacy regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and its requirements.

June 1st marks the official start of hurricane season. Every year, businesses, governments, colleges and universities, hospitals, and other organizations along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast prepare for the inevitable arrival of storms and hurricanes, doing everything possible to minimize their impact. Veoci's first trial was by hurricane.

Previously, we talked with Maria about how she prepared for commencement every year. Now we’re going to jump into her career and how she dedicated it to emergency management.

With over 30 member center locations and billions in assets, Wright-Patt Credit Union (WPCU) has many complex daily operations to oversee. But daily operations don't draw WPCU's total focus. Emergency incidents are rare, but they do happen.

Connecticut’s second largest city, New Haven, is home to one of the oldest universities in the country: Yale University. Yale is an important piece of the city of New Haven, and both the school and the city often work hand-in-hand.

National Wildfire Awareness Month kicks of this week, with May 5th being national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day. It's a great reminder of how important it is to be ready for these incidents, especially with the hot and dry summer weather around the corner.

National Reentry Week, from April 23rd-28th 2018, ended on a strong and hopeful note. During National Reentry Week and National Second Chance Month, we reflect on the people who dedicate their work to ensuring there’s a life after prison.

On April 17th 2017, The City of New Haven Youth Services Department presented Veoci with the 2018 YSB (Youth Services Bureau) Community Partner of the Year at The Great Escape Charity Breakfast.

Among the many solutions that Veoci provides to the General Aviation industry, one of the less heralded but highly important (and interesting!) ones is Lease Management, especially for smaller Part 139 certified airports. And while it may seem like a simple application, Veoci’s usage as a lease management tool is an excellent demonstration of how Veoci can be configured for very specific aviation needs.

DRI 2018 - The Professional’s Conference (hosted by Disaster Recovery Institute International) was a fantastic opportunity for everyone to learn about the transforming landscape of resilience and business continuity.

Six years ago, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was first proposed to the EU. Two years ago, the EU passed the new regulation. And in 3 months, GDPR will take effect. GDPR has a broad scope.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) selected Veoci Software as the Safety Management System (SMS) to the Province's northern remote airports. The MTO has the largest airport network in Canada, owning and operating 29 airports across northern Ontario.

Anyone who travels knows how enriching the experience is. Ibn Battuta, a 14th century Moroccan scholar, learned this quickly. When he set out on hajj in 1325, he probably didn’t plan on staying out for 24 straight years.

Upwards of 105 million people are expected to travel over the end of year holidays this year. Among them will be a majority of the 12,000 students and 4,500 faculty and staff of Yale University.

The National Healthcare Coalition Preparedness Conference of 2017 (NHCPC) finished up just over a week ago. We followed up with Rich Smith, a Senior Solutions Associate at Veoci, who attended the conference for the first time this year.

On November 15th and 16th, GridEx, a biennial event, will be taking place. Representatives from the North American utility industry, as well as various regional and federal agencies, will take part in simulated emergencies to test their response plans.

Warmer days are finally here as we head towards summer and away from the record-breaking winter of 2015 with its blizzards, storms, massive snow accumulations, and various lingering effects (have you counted the number of new potholes in your neighborhood?).

The University of North Dakota (UND), in Grand Forks, ND, and founded in 1883, is the state's oldest and largest university, with more than 15,000 students.

I've worked with many airports on various projects, and whenever the topic of the Federal Aviation Administration's Safety Management System (SMS) directive comes up, there is apprehension.

In order to test emergency response plans and the coordination of airport staff with local first responders, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires all Part 139 certified airports to conduct, every 3 years, emergency exercises that simulate potential real-life incidents.

In an earlier blog post we examined how weather and other disasters have a severe impact on small & medium-sized businesses, who often do not have the resources to dedicate to Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) as many large corporations do.

We worked with the City of New Haven, Connecticut, to prepare for and respond to Superstorm Sandy a few weeks ago. This post is Part 3 in a series in which we discuss our experiences and what we learned as we helped New Haven through this crisis.

As Hurricane Sandy is making its landfall on the east coast, utility companies must be gearing up to handle fallen trees, damaged electric lines, flooding, and reports of other outages. Here’s a scenario of how Veoci can help a utility company better manage the situation.