Disaster Planning and Emergency Preparedness in the Glamping Industry

Disasters come in many forms— from power outages, to floods, to issues with media or communication.

In our January member meetup call, Patrick Hardy of Hytropy Disaster Management shared an overview of how he creates and implements emergency preparedness plans within the glamping industry.

Plan 

Having a disaster plan in place is the single most important aspect of emergency preparedness. Your plan should have two versions— one that is written in clear, digestible language that every staff member or person can easily understand, and one written in legal terms that can be used for compliance/OSHA/government purposes. The most basic of plans should include evacuation, shelter-in-place, and lockdown procedures. Your plan should also include how to best mitigate the impact on your business.

Train

Empower the people around you— don't try to handle everything yourself. Disasters happen when you least expect them, so it’s important to train every member of your staff at the same level. You’ll only be as prepared as your least prepared staff members.

Test

Simulate disaster scenarios as well as teaching through text. It’s best practice to do evacuation drills with and without communication devices so your team is prepared.

Disaster Occurs

Common disasters include firearms/threatening guest confrontations, criminal activity, explosions, deaths, media, communication, and bomb threats.

Respond + Improve

How can you make your plan more effective going forward? This is the time to review your procedure, address any issues, and Implement best practices. Look over all maps, evacuation routes, etc. 

The saying “fail to plan, plan to fail” rings especially true when it comes to a disaster scenario. By dedicating time and resources to emergency preparedness before disaster strikes, you’ll be reducing the impact of an unexpected event on not only your business, but yourself.