Your community association management company is responsible for ensuring that your community is able to operate effectively. One aspect of operations that all communities need to deal with is how to approach an emergency situation.
Whether it be a natural disaster, an accident on community grounds, or even a crime, emergency preparedness is a necessity for every community. By working with your association management team and focusing on these 4 steps, your association Board can help come up with emergency plans that ensure the preparedness of your neighborhood.
1. Create an Emergency Committee
Your Association Board already has a ton of responsibilities on their plate. By working with the association management team responsible for the community, the Board can create an emergency committee that has is responsible for preparing a disaster response plan.
An emergency committee will be responsible for:
- Designing an effective emergency preparedness plan,
- Speaking with other communities that have already developed plans,
- Defining what the community needs in order to have an effective plan.
2. An Emergency Action Team is Key
Creating an emergency committee is the first step for preparedness. From here, examining your association will be effective in finding out who can help in specific situations. Your community is full of individuals with their own needs and skills for situations that constitute an emergency. Asking for volunteers is a great way to find out who has the skills to help in an emergency situation. Finding the firefighters, police officers, or EMTs who live in your association, and looping them into your emergency plan could make a huge difference when it really matters.
Even partnering with neighboring communities can be helpful in the face of an emergency.
3. Determine a Disaster Budget with your Management Team
Everything in community management comes with a cost and a disaster budget is no exception. Having the Board meet with the community management team can help answer a lot of financial questions. Some points that could be brought up in this project coordination meeting include:
- How much of the annual budget should go towards disaster relief?
- Are there vendors in place that can help the community after an emergency?
- What resources need to be obtained for initial preparedness?
- And what responsibilities does the HOA have in response to a disaster?
4. Be sure to communicate your plan to your Association Members
Of course, none of this effort can succeed without a solid communication process. Everyone from the Board to property owners needs to be aware of the processes in place in order to effectively handle an emergency situation. Your management team can help your committee create an emergency guidebook that every household can refer to in the case of an emergency situation.
Goodwin & Company Keeps Your Neighborhood Prepared
At Goodwin & Company, we understand the importance of emergency preparedness and how the Community Association can work with property owners to ensure a smooth execution of the plan. If your community is in need of some guidance from an association management team, Goodwin & Company is prepared to get your community members on the right track. Contact us today to find out about our services.
