January/February 2023 - 42

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Similar principles may be applied not only to emergency
exercises, but to real-life emergencies. In my career,
I have found that there is a significant return on investment
in increasing confidence in emergency plans that
comes from a commitment to conducting a hotwash or
debrief anytime the emergency plan is activated. For more
complex emergencies, both a hotwash and a debrief may
be useful. Taking the time, even after a minor aircraft
incident where for example fire/rescue and the control
tower are involved to ask each party what went well and
what could use improvement is a strong commitment to
building a culture of communication.
Continuous improvement and corrective actions require
the commitment of an organization to view the emergency
Reed-Joseph
505 Mountain Industrial Drive
P.O. Box 1530
Brevard, NC 28712
800-647-5554 / 828-885-3300
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHARITY CATALFOMO
Charity Catalfomo is the principal
of Convergence Solutions, LLC, a
consulting firm that provides emergency
management and safety services to
airports. Charity can be reached at:
Charity@convergencesolutionsgroup.com
reedjoseph.com
AviationPros.com/10132925
2208AIRB_Reed Joseph.indd 1
7/21/22 9:49 AM
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INDEX
ACI-NA ......................................................................................17
ADB SAFEGATE Americas LLC ....................................27
Contech Engineered Solutions LLC ...........................43
Leonardo S.p.A .......................................................................7
Lumacurve .............................................................................42
Mercury GSE .........................................................................44
NEC/AAAE International Aviation Snow
Symposium ........................................................................13
North American Bancard ..................................................9
Reed-Joseph International Company .......................42
Stinar Corporation ............................................................ 2-3
42 \ AIRPORT BUSINESS / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023
AviationPros.com/10132450
This directory is provided as a service. The Publisher assumes no liability
for errors and/or omissions.
plan as a living document. Though an airport's response
plans and procedures should largely be worked through
before a real-life emergency, most airport operators can
appreciate through experience that written plans may not
be entirely reflective of how the response occurs. The FAA
released guidance in 2011 that required all certificated
airports to complete a significant overhaul and update of
their airport emergency plan. As an airport operator, it
may be time to take an honest look at how your plan has
changed since 2011 and if it is reflective of your current
response procedures.
It may be advantageous to an organization to write
INTERNATIONAL COMPANY
But we're still here for you...
procedures for continuous improvement into written emergency
plans. Often, airport emergency plans can be heavily
focused on response/recovery and thus many plans
fail to detail how the verification, improvement and
corrective action process will actually occur. Writing
this into your plan with flexibility to contract and
expand depending on the size and impact of the
emergency assists the airport operator in ensuring that
the emergency planning cycle does not end at recovery,
rather closing the loop with plans for continuous
improvement and engagement of stakeholders. 
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January/February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2023
