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NEWS ARCHIVES |
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Churches Need Emergency Plans for Worst Case Scenarios, But Most Don’t Have Them Denver – July 27, 2008 – Church violence seems to be an all too common news event lately. In last three months alone, in Delaware, California and Tennessee, at least 3 church shootings have occurred, leading many worshipers to wonder if they are safe in their own church on Sunday mornings. In addition, natural disasters have taken their toll on churches recently, shedding light on a variety of church emergency situations. Churches seem to be targets for violence now more than ever. Many wonder what they can do to protect their worshipers in the very place where people shouldn’t have to worry about their safety. George Sullivan is Emergency Planning Consultant for Colorado-based Tutis Vero, a consulting company that helps churches and schools prepare their communities for any hazardous situation. “First of all, we wish to extend our thoughts and prayers to the people of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville. They should be commended for their quick action after the violent act that took place in their church this past Sunday. Also usher Greg McKendry and others who stepped in to protect worshipers are true heroes.” Sullivan specializes in helping churches develop and implement emergency plans for churches. He explained, “By now, it should be clear to church administrators that they need to have an emergency plan for worst case scenarios.” “Most churches I’ve talked to don’t have effective emergency plans. They know they need to do something, but they aren’t sure what that is. They need to prepare for any incident that could happen, which means developing and consistently testing an all-hazards plan.” Sullivan emphasized, “Training staff members and security teams on what to do before, during and after an incident is also critical. An emergency plan is only as effective as the people who are trained to implement it. A document that sits in an office and collects dust is not a plan.” Incidences such as church shootings, natural disasters, and other emergency situations should all be included as part of a church’s all-hazards emergency plan. Sullivan says churches sometimes have a difficult time uncovering and addressing all possible incident scenarios. “But they should try to identify hazards, analyze their vulnerabilty and mitigate before it happens.” Sullivan is passionate about keeping churches and schools safe. “Any hazardous incident that happens in a church, whether spurred by human hands or natural causes, is tragic. We don’t want to focus on any one church incident. We simply want to help churches prepare for any hazardous event that could happen.” George Sullivan is Emergency Planning Consultant for Tutis Vero, a church security consulting and equipment company based in Denver, Colorado. For more information on Sullivan or Tutis Vero, e-mail george@tutisvero.com, or visit www.tutisvero.com . |
