New IPI Emergency Preparedness Manual Helps Parking Professionals Deal with the Unexpected

Valuable free tool offers guidance for developing emergency plans for parking facilities and operations.

(ALEXANDRIA, VA. –September 1, 2015) Are you and your employees prepared for an emergency? Parking and transportation professionals are charged with the safety and welfare of many people and typically stand front and center when emergencies arise, whether a vehicle fire in an underground garage, an act of Mother Nature, or criminal activity. How they respond in these scenarios can make a significant difference.

The International Parking Institute’s Emergency Preparedness Manual is a new, hands-on preparedness tool for parking and transportation professionals. It provides the knowledge, skills, policies, and procedures needed to fulfill departmental roles and function professionally and sensibly in unexpected events. The manual emphasizes practical and actionable steps that can be used by parking and transportation facilities, along with guidance on individual roles and responsibilities.

As the document points out, parking facilities can serve as vital assets and resources for first responders and others, becoming staging areas and temporary shelters in catastrophic events and certain kinds of inclement weather. By being able to anticipate and plan for these types of emergencies, the parking industry can play an invaluable, proactive public service role.

“Parking professionals go to work every day knowing in any given moment, an emergency could arise that changes everything,” said Kim Jackson, CAPP, chair of IPI and director of parking and transportation at Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. “Those of us charged with the safety and welfare of our customers and other stakeholders have only one responsible choice: prepare and plan.”

The manual is a roadmap to help organizations develop their own emergency preparedness plans. It includes national recommendations for dealing with various scenarios, industry case studies, a monthly planning guide, exercises to help train employees, and much more. It can be downloaded free at parking.org/emergencymanual.

The International Parking Institute is the world’s largest parking association of parking professionals and the parking industry. www.parking.org.

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Media contact:
Helen Sullivan
703.606.7622
sullivan@parking.org