It’s an exciting time for students across the nation as summer’s end draws near and fall quickly approaches. A new school year resembles a renewed chance at glory for sports teams. Some of the most popular scholastic sports are gearing up for a new fall season, which means players are heading back for pre-season training. A fresh start for fans, the new year will have students and parents flooding into stadiums of all sizes to watch their favorite players and teams.
Stadium safety incidents
While the fall season is exciting, safety is top of mind for host venues. There have been hundreds of mass shootings in 2022 alone, but considering recent fatal tragedies, it’s easy to understand why stadiums might have anxieties about hosting large public events: allow a tragedy to occur, and the damage – to life and reputation – could be impossible to recover from. Threats like an active shooter or improvised explosive device (IED) are always a top priority, but the more likely emergency would be a security breach or aggressive sets of fans. Successful stadiums have a detailed and tested process for mitigating risk and ensuring safety regardless of the severity of the incident.
Thinking ahead
Whether parents attending a Friday night football game or college kids headed to the student section, there is always a chance that something will go wrong whenever thousands of people gather in one place. Stadium managers are in a position where they must take the necessary steps to ensure optimal preparedness before game-goers descend on all the fun that is about to ensue. The work of emergency managers determines how much risk is contained – it can make the difference between something looking like a minor inconvenience and a full-scale activation. To be prepared, managers must be equipped with the best strategies and technologies to respond to any emergency proactively.
Strategies for a swift response
When an emergency erupts, stress and confusion increase. Regardless of the role someone plays in an organization, quick and concise communication is crucial to managing the emergency response. A lack of streamlined, united communication can lead to misinformation and misdirection, creating more problems and amplifying threats.
If stadium staff isn’t connected to the information they need during an emergency, response coordination will drastically suffer. A critical step managers must take is creating an all-encompassing emergency response plan. Stadium managers must set aside time to discuss best practices when handling an emergency with their staff. Seek out staff input on a preparedness plan, then make sure every staff member knows their role in an emergency and what they need to do to serve that role.
Emergencies are unpredictable and evolve quickly. Part of enabling effective communication is that stadium managers must be proactive instead of reactive. Reactive emergency response can leave people scrambling. Relying on an emergency process that was previously implemented is not a plan. Scholastic stadiums must consistently revisit their emergency playbook and review emergency action plans, response guides, and other critical practices to ensure all processes are still relevant and actionable. Some of these might include:
- Conducting a risk assessment to recognize possible emergency threats.
- Naming key management and staff who will be involved in responses to different types of incidents.
- Creating specific protocols and procedures for a response.
- Identifying all agencies that would need to be called in.
- Creating protocols for emergency responses across all areas within a stadium.
Executing these practices requires a centralized communication platform that allows managers to contact impacted parties and key stakeholders, including law enforcement and medical care personnel.
Technologies that support situational awareness
When a sports stadium encounters an emergency, leaning on crisis management software to create a common operating picture will be crucial to achieving the most robust response. Crisis management systems are designed with a careful understanding of the specific needs of each stadium, its staff, and the surrounding campus. A comprehensive, web-based information management system enables emergency managers to operate with better tools to prepare and respond to an emergency.
Operational decisions must be made quickly and frequently, requiring a complete understanding of the circumstances. Comprehensive situational awareness of these activities requires all data and information to be centralized so that it can be shared quickly and efficiently with key stakeholders so that the proper actions can be taken swiftly to respond to any form of emergency. A standard operating picture within a crisis management system gives managers and their staff better situational awareness and provides reliable and accurate information. This ensures that all other stakeholders work from the same data set, bridging all previously existing data silos.
Some benefits of a situational awareness technology platform include:
- A common operating picture that provides a comprehensive real-time view of all data that pertains to critical incidents and occurrences.
- Automated workflows to easily track information, make critical decisions, request supplies and mutual aid, and deploy resources.
- Mapping incidents that occur within a stadium allows advanced preparation for critical events.
- Standardization of communication efforts with employees, partners, and other stakeholders.
Win from within – constructing a stadium safety culture
People in public places are undoubtedly vigilant regarding their safety and that of their loved ones. Stadium managers must have the proper technology and preparedness plans to provide a sense of security for all stadium patrons and the surrounding community. Their work not only allows athletes, spectators, staff, and everyone in the stands to enjoy the game, but it also strengthens the communities by bringing people back together with in-person and social interactions.
When it comes down to it, the stakes are higher than generally meet the eye for spectators. Creating a safe environment in a stadium takes much consideration and planning. It is of utmost importance that the planning begins from the top, ensuring effective preparedness throughout an operation. Utilizing a comprehensive, web-based crisis management platform will help execute all angles and enable emergency managers and responders to operate with complete flexibility, quickly, and efficiently.
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