What are your thoughts on emergency plans

I did not post a follow-up to yesterday's post about the London bombings because I have been rivited by the story. These tragedies are just sad. And I am having the same reaction to 7.7 and I had to 9.11 -- there is nothing good that comes from this. Aside from the immediate and obvious tragedies, there are ripple effects that go on for days, weeks, months and years.

Among the questions this raises for feds is how good are the emergency preparations. This was an issue for the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, of course. While the London incident didn't take out any buildings, it serves as a reminder of what could happen and the need for a good business continuity plan. [Here is a link to an April 2005 House Government Reform Committee hearing on business continuity and disaster recovery, including a GAO report, "Continuity of Operations - Agency Plans Have Improved, but Better Oversight Could Assist Agencies in Preparing for Emergencies." (.pdf)]

Along those lines, our worklife columnist, Judy Welles, is working on a column about emergency plans. She wrote a column on this subject last August, in light of the London bombings, it seems a good time to revisit the issue. So do you feel comfofortable with the state of emergency plans at your building? If there was an incident now, would you know what to do? Where to go? She would love to get your thoughts and insights. You can e-mail her directly at judywelles@fcw.com or you can post your comment here. Her column will appear in either the issue on July 18 or July 25.