BOMA Boston holds Roundtable on Emergency Building Preparedness

BOMA Boston held their latest Roundtable on March 12th, which tackled the difficult, yet important issue of active shooter and emergency preparedness for commercial real estate professionals. The presentation began with a short instructional DVD titled, "Shots Fired - When Lightning Strikes," by the Center for Personal Protection and Safety. The video stressed the importance of recognizing an active shooter situation, and preparing beforehand by learning basic personal survival and emergency measures. Following the video, four speakers with expertise in security and property management provided practical means for commercial real estate professionals and engaged the audience with a Q&A session. The presentation centered on the necessity of properly educating all building professionals, including the property management team, tenants, security, and service professionals on the procedures of an active shooter situation. Other topics included building notification technology, emergency information kits for law enforcement, "evacuation vs. lock-down" judgment, and the critical 24-48 hours after an incident. Speakers Featured: * Rick Barnes, director of security, Lincoln Property Company; * Bill Goss, vice president, Apollo International, Inc.; * Jim O'Neil, vice president of operations and chief security officer, Northeast Security, Inc.; and * Alan Snow, director of safety and security, Boston Properties. BOMA Boston holds 10-12 roundtable programs throughout the year, each focusing on a timely industry topic. The next BOMA Roundtable, titled "Disaster Planning Lessons Learned: Hurricane Sandy" will be held Thursday, April 11th. An experienced panel of professionals will discuss their personal experiences and lessons learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Moderated by: Gerry McGonagle, general manager, Belfor Property Restoration. Speakers Featured: * Richard Bachia, senior vice president, operations, Brookfield Office Properties; * Phil Gordon, regional large loss manager, Belfor Property Restoration; * Bob Hollis, president, Hollis Insurance Agency; * Rich Piltch, president, ARS Restoration Specialists; and * Kevin Slein, senior director, facilities, BioMed Realty, Inc. To learn more about BOMA Boston's upcoming programs, please visit www.bomaboston.org.