ABSTRACT
Emergency response and business continuity (BC) planning is an essential component of the research organization's program. A well-developed plan ensures the humane care and treatment of laboratory animals in a crisis situation. Crisis management is a community affair, and for it to work well, private, local, state, and federal entities must execute their respective emergency management responsibilities. Customarily, entities such as institutional emergency response groups act as the liaison between the local agencies and the organization. The first and most important is risk assessment and mitigation. Risk assessment is the foundation for everything else that follows because it identifies areas of weakness. Risk mitigation eliminates or reduces those areas of weakness or risks. Planning considers the results of a hazard, not necessarily the specific hazard. A fire or storm in a nearby neighborhood resulting in widespread power outage or evacuations due to hazardous fumes could disrupt operations in the animal facility.
