Disaster Response

Providing security for facilities and personnel in post-disaster environments is a unique mission. Even in the best-prepared communities, the magnitude of public safety issues, unpredictable consequences, and non-functional infrastructure can easily overwhelm public authorities and limit the capacity of police to respond to general emergencies. Traditional security agencies, reliant on local personnel and infrastructure, are often unable to sustain effective operations under such significant demands without special access to outside sources of food, water, fuel, and personnel. As witnessed during Hurricane Katrina, organizations that fail to predict these problems in their disaster recovery planning by relying on local public safety and security providers often find themselves unprotected or paying unnecessary premiums for service.

CIS disaster response teams provide a range of security and mitigation assistance to companies and government agencies located in multi-state post-disaster environments. In addition to facility protection in afflicted zones, other services provided by CIS disaster response teams include recovery and transportation of assets, rescue of client employees stranded in locations with damaged infrastructure, and protection of mobile assets such as power line trucks and supply convoys traveling through affected areas. Although security is the primary mission for most of our response teams, CIS can also assist clients by providing emergency communications, food, fuel, transportation, and even medical assistance.

Based on our experience in responding to client needs in over 20 hurricanes since 1993, CIS has developed an innovative infrastructure and logistical apparatus to effectively support operations in environments with damaged or limited infrastructure. As a result of these unique operational enhancements, CIS disaster response clients enjoy a number of benefits unavailable from other security agencies:

Large-Scale Deployment Capability While Maintaining High Standards of Performance

Although many national-level security agencies have the capability to deploy large numbers of security officers during natural disasters, few have the systems necessary to maintain high levels of performance as the operation scales in size. In order to meet the high demand for service in the aftermath of disasters, most national-level security companies shuffle personnel into the affected area without any special training or operational direction. Other agencies respond by subcontracting assistance, often with little vetting or attention to standardization of training and procedures. The result of these hasty mass-scale deployments is often a chaotic and uncontrolled atmosphere with inconsistent performance and professionalism.

To eliminate the common problems associated with mass scale deployment, CIS has implemented a number of unique controls. As a starting point, CIS requires that all security personnel participating in disaster response operations receive specialized training in disaster response and operate under a specialized Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). The CIS Disaster Response SOP is designed to ensure standardization of policy and protocol at CIS-protected sites. Parallel with officer training and operational guidance, CIS command and operations staff maintain close direction over field activities to ensure that personnel are operating in accordance with SOP.

If at any point the demand for our services appears to exceed our possible capability to maintain maximum performance, we immediately halt taking on new assignments. At CIS, our hard-earned reputation for effective performance and reliability is far more critical than short-term revenues from disaster services.

Fast Deployment Capability

As a benefit of our unique operations structure and logistical capabilities, CIS can usually deploy advance team personnel throughout the Southeastern United States and activate the full resources of our Operations and Mitigation Center (OMC) within 24 hours of notice. Once the OMC is activated and the CIS Personnel Resources and Deployment Team (PRDT) is mobilized, our disaster officer teams and follow-on logistical teams can be on-site anywhere throughout the Southeastern United States within 48-72 hours.

Service Reliability Independent of Local Infrastructure

To ensure that CIS disaster response teams are capable of reliable and sustained operations regardless of local infrastructure, CIS maintains a complete inventory of deployment equipment and transportation systems:

Mobile Operations and Mitigation Center (MOMC) Truck
Electrical generators for field logistic stations and MOMC
Supply trailers and trucks
Argo amphibious vehicle
Fuel bladders and fuel distribution equipment
Water tanks and bladders
Water purification system
Rapid Deployment Food Stockpile: 1,000+ Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs)
Reserve Food Stockpile: 29,000+ Group Rations
Satellite telephones and satellite data links for field command personnel
Tents, sleeping rolls, and camping equipment for personnel operating in locations without lodging options
Portable field hygiene systems

With supply and transportation needs managed by our team of professional logistics coordinators, CIS disaster response teams can operate fully independent of local infrastructure for indefinite periods of time. This is a critical necessity for maintaining uninterrupted operations during major natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.

Remote Access to Real-Time and Updated Information About Facilities and Assets Under Protection

For the benefit of clients with corporate offices located away from the affected area, CIS created a special portal in EDICTS (Emergency Deployment Information and Command Tracking System) to provide clients with remote access to continuously updated information about the status of their facilities. By using the web-based EDICTS client portal, corporate security and emergency management personnel located anywhere in the World can monitor field activities as reported to our Operations and Mitigation Center (OMC) and view the latest reported conditions at their facilities.

In addition to providing information about the security status at protected sites, the EDICTS client portal provides updated information about the status of electricity, facility damage, facility hazards, work operations, generator fuel, local availability of food and gasoline, and local transportation conditions.

Access to Food, Fuel, and Other Types of Critical Support

In addition to providing security for clients in affected zones, CIS can assist client organizations in obtaining essential logistical support to sustain company operations. By maintaining preferred vendor agreements with suppliers and transportation companies in addition to special arrangements with emergency management authorities, CIS is often able to assist clients in obtaining critical and uninterrupted supplies of food, fuel, and water in even the most challenging situations.

To facilitate logistical requests, a special module is present in EDICTS to provide clients with an easy method for ordering and tracking the delivery of supplies.