Emergency Operations Manual

Sample Emergency Operations Manual

Critical information for the operation of  emergency equipment for industry is usually located in well defined, easily recognized and often mandated binders, manuals or laminated placards in close proximity to the equipment.

Many workers in construction industries often don't read the instruction manual for the tools they use - often leading to serious injury or death.  We know this for a fact. You should read all your manuals after installation or storage and it is a good idea for everyone who may be required to use the gear to also become familiar with the manuals as well as have hands on experience that you can "exercise" in one of your preparedness drills. 

The average homeowner may have operation manuals for equipment located in a variety of places throughout the house or outbuildings or if organized it might find a notable place in a file drawer.  
We recommend a simple color coded file system to help identify various info in paper file form.   Under stress and when your home is in shambles, locating operating and troubleshooting instructions for such equipment as back up power systems, generators, custom electrical installations (wind/solar/turbine etc) needs to be expedient. 

Emergency Manual Cover Form

People afflicted with "normalcy bias" or  "it won't happen to me" syndrome may assume others already know what they know. When disaster strikes and they are not available to figure everything out, the operation/repair of the equipment may be relegated to a spouse, child, relative or neighbor who may not be as knowledgeable or skilled.  In some instances your family's safety and continued comfort might rely on a total stranger or "new friend" with skills.

Communications may be down (you can safely assume THAT) so having essential info in a conveniently located and easily recognizable binder will help make sure locating it is easy.  A secure but acknowledged family location for emergency gear and info can also help.

We suggest service company contact info (business cards), typed out procedural lists, inspection checklists, safety warnings and other reference / service manuals (example above).    This manual can/should be in addition to important info laminated or bound and already stored with the equipment.  

Always try and remember - Redundancy.

One surefire way to instantly recognize your binder as pertaining to emergencies is to have the ICE Logo on it.....that is what it was designed for.  Training is a snap.....everything identified with the ICE Logo pertains to emergeny use.  Simple.
Fancy artwork or cute graphics symbols usually add to the confusion.  Industry standard MSDS binders are simple too.   

You can certainly create a binder like this for home.  We have added a cover page (see above) you can download and print to use that incorporates the ICE Logo already - it's ok to use in color, b/w or grayscale. 

One line is for your home address/name and you can define the other system or equipment you wish to include here....you may want to identify emergency and non-emergency info using color coded systems. 



Some typical suggestions:
Back Up Generators
Solar Chargers
Sump Pump Systems
Septic Systems
Water Systems
Inverter Circuits,
Chain Saws
Flood Water Pumps
Storm Shelter Operation
Phone and Radio Systems
Plumbing/Water Filtration Manuals
Emergency Respirators
Vehicle Operations (ATV, Boat, Tractor, Truck)

Download cover document.    Check out the other useful info on site there as well.