PHOENIX, AZ - The recent power outages in Southern California and the Northeastern hurricane were pointed reminders of the importance of emergency planning. Alliance Residential Company takes things one step further by implementing periodic emergency drills to test its multifamily communities and Associates’ level of preparedness and response times, as well as the overall effectiveness of in-place emergency plans.
“All Alliance communities are required to create and maintain an emergency preparedness plan, and our corporate office has a designated team of department heads who respond to emergency situations,” says Jim Krohn, Chief Operating Officer. “Surprise drills are an excellent way to gauge the effectiveness of those plans within the context of an emergency situation. These tests enable us to refine response tactics and identify new ways to streamline emergency efforts, such as using social media to communicate situational updates to residents or having satellite phones on hand for use when cell phone and landline service is unavailable.”
When planning an emergency drill, Alliance creates scenarios that could plausibly affect a community or region — earlier this year, the company conducted a drill surrounding an earthquake in Los Angeles. Alliance’s Director of Asset Engineering initiates the drill at the site level by relaying the scenario to the Business Manager of a selected community. The Business Manager is then responsible for putting the community’s emergency plan into action, and the drill is elevated to regional and corporate levels in accordance with the plan’s directives for notification.
"Our earthquake drill began at Ocean Palisades/Ocean Palms — two sister properties managed by Alliance in Santa Monica — and then was elevated to encompass the remaining 33 Alliance-managed communities in the Los Angeles area,” says Forrest White, Director of Asset Engineering. “During post-drill interviews and assessments, we received great feedback from all Associates involved. For example, the Business Manager for Ocean Palisades/Ocean Palms said the drill was stressful but also a great learning experience — she is even more confident that she and her Service Supervisor are prepared to react quickly and effectively in the event of an emergency.”
Overall, this drill highlighted how important it is for each associate to prepare not only from a community standpoint, but to also have a plan in place for their personal lives and families that enables them to sustain work efforts. Fact-gathering and dissemination procedures were strengthened — with the number of associates involved, it was easy to see how quickly communication could break down. By implementing a chain of command for communication, Alliance was able to streamline updates from the site to the regional level to the corporate level, and avoid unnecessary confusion or misinformation. Corporate support teams were then able to accurately assess the “big picture” and respond accordingly. Moving forward, Alliance is committed to further enhancing communication tactics to ensure salient details are not lost in translation.
Similarly, Alliance saw a need to take measures to ensure communication is always feasible — since the drill, the company has purchased satellite phones for each region, in the event that cellular and landline services are down or simply overloaded. Alliance will also establish a dedicated emergency phone number for associates to call to provide updates and is evaluating how to best use social media as an additional communication medium for both associates and residents.
White adds: “We know the impact an event such as an earthquake can have on the physical asset, as well as our residents and associates, and we are committed to delivering a prompt, efficient reaction. Running these drills is the only way to identify and fix any kinks in our plans — and doing it now is far better than struggling through when it is real."
Company Information
Alliance Residential is a fully-integrated multifamily real estate operating company focused on the development, acquisition, construction and management of residential and mixed-use communities in the United States. Headquartered in Phoenix, Alliance has 20 regional offices divided among six regions throughout the U.S. Over the past 11 years, Alliance has become one of the largest private apartment owners and the 15th largest management company in the nation, boasting a $6.0+ billion portfolio, 48,000 units in 24 metropolitan markets. Alliance has a presence in 15 states (including Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington) and is actively seeking management, development and acquisitions opportunities across the markets it serves. For more information, visit www.allresco.com.