According to a 2004 survey by the American Management Association, only 61 percent of corporate executives said their firms had crisis management plans in place. Only 43 percent said their plans focused on acts of terrorism. Of the firms with more than 1,000 employees, some 61 percent of those polled indicated that their senior management staff across business lines had not been trained in crisis management. And, finally, 90 percent of the small number of those who offered security training only did so annually. If these statistics are to be trusted, US companies are woefully unprepared for the likes of a 9/11 attack . And, such an attack would not have to target the company specifically to bring it to a standstill, as was witnessed in Oklahoma City , on 9/11, in Bali , in Moscow , in Casablanca , in Turkey (Terrorist Incident and Terrorist Incident), in Madrid , in London (Terrorist Incident and Terrorist Incident), along with other major terrorist attacks. And, this lack of attention to terrorism comes in light of an unresolved spate of attacks in London, an increased threat to US entities in Saudi Arabia, a released video by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an elusive Osama bin Laden, among other portends that terrorism will not soon abate. Some advance preparation and exercise of the plan might help in disaster-recovery and continuity of operations.

Having a well-though out, prepared, and exercised plan would also go a long way in mitigating the common contentions that “this wasn’t supposed to happen to us” or “this wasn’t supposed to happen here” that are so frequently heard from victims. Should a workplace be high-profile and a possible target, these plans ? and their practiced functionality — become infinitely more crucial. Every employee ? CEO to janitor — must know what to do, who to notify, where to go, and how to get there in case of a crisis. Having this plan in place and practiced prior to an event, will avoid chaos, confusion, and undo fear. Some companies fund employees’ training in first aid and CPR to help in case of injury. A plan should not, however, be exclusively an evacuation plan; it must also deal with kidnapping-for-ransom, which is a leading risk to executives in Colombia and Mexico .