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When emergencies strike, public safety officials use timely and reliable systems to alert you. This page describes different warning alerts you can get and how to get them.

Wireless Emergency Alerts

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are just one of the ways public safety officials can quickly and effectively alert the public to serious emergencies. They are sent through the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which integrates the nation’s alert and warning systems, technologies and infrastructure.

What you need to know about WEAs:

If you are not are not receiving Wireless Emergency Alerts here are some tips to troubleshoot your mobile device:

  1. Check the settings on your mobile phones and review your user manual (you may be able to find this online too)
    • Older phones may not be WEA capable, and some cell phone models require you to enable WEAs.
    • Most mobile service providers call these messages WEAs, but some manufacturers refer to them as “Government Alerts,” or “Emergency Alert Messages.”
  2. Check with your wireless providers to see if they can resolve the issue

Emergency Alert System

NOAA Weather Radio

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations that broadcast continuous weather information from the nearest National Weather Service office.

Resource Links

This article was repurposed from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA website “https://www.ready.gov.” To view the original article, visit https://www.ready.gov/alerts

For the National Preparedness Month of September, Titan is proud to have the locally-based subject matter expertise to partner in a wide range of safety, security, training, technology, and emergency planning efforts.

As you assess your preparedness measures, we stand ready to assist. Titan offers fire and life safety training, including fire safety seminars and fire drills that will help prepare and inform building employees and tenants of guidance and best practices for critical emergencies. Titan is also pleased to offer best-in-class, all-hazard emergency planning services.

Benefits of Titan’s fire life safety training and education include:

Benefits of Titan’s emergency planning services include:

If you would like to learn more, contact Titan’s Director of Emergency Management, Tom Henkey at [email protected] or 312.902.3400. 

After an emergency, you may need to survive on your own for several days. Being prepared means having your own food, water and other supplies to last for several days. A disaster supplies kit is a collection of basic items your household may need in the event of an emergency.

Make sure your emergency kit is stocked with the items on the checklist below. Most of the items are inexpensive and easy to find and any one of them could save your life. Headed to the store? Download a printable version to take with you. Once you take a look at the basic items consider what unique needs your family might have, such as supplies for pets or seniors.

Basic Disaster Supplies Kit

To assemble your kit store items in airtight plastic bags and put your entire disaster supplies kit in one or two easy-to-carry containers such as plastic bins or a duffel bag.

A basic emergency supply kit could include the following recommended items:

Additional Emergency Supplies

Since Spring of 2020, the CDC has recommended people include additional items in their kits to help prevent the spread of coronavirus or other viruses and the flu.

Consider adding the following items to your emergency supply kit based on your individual needs:

Maintaining Your Kit

After assembling your kit remember to maintain it so it’s ready when needed:

Kit Storage Locations

Since you do not know where you will be when an emergency occurs, prepare supplies for home, work and cars.

This article was repurposed from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA website “https://www.ready.gov.” To view the original article, visit https://www.ready.gov/kit

It’s important to talk to your friends and family about how you will communicate before, during, and after a disaster because they may not be together if and when a disaster strikes. It’s important to know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Establishing a family meeting place that’s familiar is essential for making it easy to find one another. Below are four steps for you to create a plan today.

Make sure to update your plan based on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations due to the coronavirus.

Step 1: Put a plan together by discussing the questions below with your family, friends, or household to start your emergency plan.

  1. How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings?
  2. What is my shelter plan?
  3. What is my evacuation route?
  4. What is my family/household communication plan?
  5. Do I need to update my emergency preparedness kit?
  6. Check with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and update my emergency plans due to coronavirus.
  7. Do you have cloth face coverings (for everyone over 2 years old), and disinfectants?

Step 2: Consider specific needs in your household.

As you prepare your plan, tailor your plans and supplies to your specific daily living needs and responsibilities. Discuss your needs and responsibilities and how people in the network can assist each other with communication, care of children, business, pets, or specific needs like operating medical equipment. Create your network for specific areas where you need assistance. Keep in mind some of these factors when developing your plan:

Step 3: Fill out a Family Emergency Plan

Download and fill out a family emergency plan or use it as a guide to creating your own.

Step 4: Practice your plan with your family/household

This article was repurposed from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA website “https://www.ready.gov.” To view the original article, visit https://www.ready.gov/plan

The Chicago Police Department Crime Prevention and Information Center (CPIC) and the Chicago Police Department Area 3 Detective Division are working to document and investigate the criminal acts that took place recently in the Central Business District in the early morning hours of August 10, 2020.

If your business or property was affected by the criminal actions and damage that occurred in the downtown area or if you have video footage or other useful information to share, below are the steps you can take to help aid the CPD’s investigations.

Steps to Submit Information:

As always, if you “See Something, Say Something.” For life-threatening emergencies, call 911. To report suspicious activity, call 855-RPRT-2-S4 (855-777-8274).

Titan is taking the following steps to support our clients and staff members in the wake of the overnight looting that took place overnight into the morning of Monday, August 10:

In addition, Titan’s Managers including Senior Leadership team members are active and visiting sites to support staff and clients and our Titan Electronics Service Technicians are active and available to service any electronic security equipment that may have been impacted by recent activity.

The City of Chicago has announced temporary restrictions on access to the Central Business District between 8:00 pm – 6:00 am nightly until further notice including the following:

CTA

Rail Service will be impacted at the following locations:

CDOT Bridges

All Bridges will be up with the except for the following:

Access Points for Essential Workers:

Expressway Closures:

Lake Shore Drive will be closed between:

Retail Protection:

As of 11:00 am, Streets and Sanitation, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Water Management will have resources deployed for retail protection to 63 locations Citywide.

 Precautions to Take:

The Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) reminds private sector firms to ensure their street-facing cameras are in good working order and recording is enabled.

The OEMC Operation Center will be monitoring accordingly. However, because situations develop and change rapidly, additional attention to monitoring news media and other sources for rapidly developing events would be prudent.

Sign Up for Emergency Alert Program for Business

The City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) and Office of Emergency Management and Communication (OEMC) has created an emergency alert program specifically for Chicago’s businesses. Local business owners and managers should text “CHIBIZ” to 67283 or visit www.chicago.gov/chibizalerts to opt-in to receive targeted emergency alerts for the business community via CHIBIZ Emergency Alerts. Businesses that opt-in will also be directed to submit a few business-specific details so that BACP and OEMC can send targeted alerts to specific areas of the city as needed.

Questions?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding security coverage or Titan’s Civil Disturbance Support, please contact your Titan representative or the Titan office at (312) 902-3400.  We will continue to communicate with you via email and at http://securechicago.com/posts/.

As always, if you “See Something, Say Something.” For life-threatening emergencies, call 911. To report suspicious activity, call 855-RPRT-2-S4 (855-777-8274).

Dear Clients and Contacts:

The Chicago Fair Workweek Ordinance went into effect on Wednesday, July 1, 2020.  The ordinance requires employers in certain industries to provide workers with predictable work schedules so that employees can reasonably plan their income and lives.  The building services industry, which includes door staff and security services, is one of seven industries included in the ordinance.  Included industry employers must compensate employees for certain predictive scheduling violations and are subject to fines for failing to comply.  

What employee rights does the ordinance include?

In addition to advanced notice of work schedules, the ordinance requires:

Which employees are covered by the ordinance?

Workers are eligible if they are a Titan employee, not a contractor, and if they are not covered under a collective bargaining agreement (i.e., they are non-union). They must work 420 hours within an 18-month period and spend the majority of those hours working within the city of Chicago. They must earn less than or equal to $50,000 per year as a salaried employee or less than or equal to $26 per hour as an hourly employee.

What is Titan doing in response to the ordinance?

Titan is fully prepared to meet the obligations required for the newly enacted ordinance, including:

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this new ordinance or security coverage for your site, please contact your Titan representative or the Titan office at (312) 902-3400.  We will continue to communicate further updates via email and at http://securechicago.com/posts/.

Additional Resources:

The Chicago Fire Department recently lifted the moratorium on conducting in-person fire drills for high-rise office buildings. The fire drills will be required to follow social distancing guidelines set in place by the Chicago Department of Public Health, Illinois Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control. The current lower occupancy rates will assist property management teams in safely performing such.

Educational activities such as fire drills and life safety seminars play an essential role in informing tenants of guidance and best practices for critical emergencies. Titan provides a “virtual” Life Safety seminar that includes a customized approach to fire-safety awareness, guidelines for what to do during a fire emergency, who to contact when fire indicators are present, and what safety features are available in the building. We are here to help you provide a strong foundation of preparedness for your tenants in the unlikely situation of a fire taking place in your facility.  

Looking to Register your Building?

If you would like to register your building for a fire and safety seminar, contact Titan’s Director of Emergency Management, Tom Henkey at [email protected]. 

Titan Security Group would like to wish you a happy Independence Day for the 4th of July. Below are safety tips to help you prepare and enjoy the holiday with your friends and family this weekend.

Fireworks Safety Tips

Grilling Safety Tips

Water Safety Tips

Heat-related Safety Tips

As always, if you “See Something, Say Something”. For life-threatening emergencies, call 911. To report suspicious activity, call 855-RPRT-2-S4 (855-777-8274).

As tenants and employees return to commercial sites for work. Building owners and managers are implementing new office procedures and protocols to promote social distancing and exposure prevention for the “new normal”. Now is an important time for property management professionals to consider how to handle emergency situations for maximum preparedness to their tenants and building sites.

Here are a few best practices to consider from the BOMA International – New Guidance Document: Emergency Evacuations Amid COVID-19. During this critical period it is imperative to evaluate and update your current evacuation procedures.

Tips to Consider for Emergency Preparedness

Train, Adapt, Train Again. Remember that everybody is a new to this situation. No matter how long you’ve been in the business, you’ve never dealt with recovering from a pandemic that impacted the entire country. We are all going to be learning new things, assessing the situation, and adjusting our response accordingly.

It is vital that frontline employees be given regular and helpful updates. Keep it simple when possible, focusing on what procedures or protocols remain the same, and which have changed.

Know Your Neighbors. Now is the time to get to know the property managers and security directors at the buildings next door and across the street. These informal networks can prove extremely valuable in the event of a secondary incident, and may building valuable long-term relationships with fellow professionals.

Imagine the fire alarm sounds at your site in the middle of a thunderstorm. Where are your going to evacuate your already nervous tenants? Having a neighboring building willing to offer their lobby as a temporary shelter and emergency assembly location could be priceless. Start the conversation.

Build That Stockpile. As the supply chain gets back on track, it allows us to begin rebuilding a stockpile of emergency supplies for your teams. This may include items such as bottled water, gloves, masks, or hand sanitizer. Slowly adding materials to internal stockpiles at your buildings will make you better prepared for any future incidents.

Distancing Under Duress. Remember that under best practices for coronavirus, social distancing is key. During a secondary crisis or emergency such as fire or flooding, it will be extremely difficult to maintain physical distance between building tenants and staff as they move away from a given threat.

Nevertheless, security and building personnel will be tasked with doing their best to re-establish order and assist this diverse population with dealing with two separate – and sometimes contradictory – hazards. Once tenants, guests, and staff are in a safer location, they will need to maintain six feet of separation whenever possible. This may require an area of shelter that is larger than might have been needed previously.

Call For Help. Even during such incidents, frontline employees must remember that they are not “on an island.” They should of course call 911 for assistance from first responders when needed.

Evacuation Drill Considerations

Compliance with state and local fire codes requires building personnel to have a fire safety and evacuation plan that follows International Fire Code (IFC) requirements.

For many commercial office buildings, evacuation drills must be conducted annually unless localities amend their code to a more frequent basis. If a building has ambulatory care facilities, educational (K-12) or institutional operations, evacuation drills may be required to take place on a monthly basis. Check with your local fire officials for further guidance on required drill frequency.

While it is important to plan for fire drills, it is even more important to be prepared if an actual fire emergency arises. Evacuating a building during a fire emergency needs to be the primary objective and social distancing should be considered a secondary concern. In those cases where evacuation protocols conflict with social distancing requirements, exiting the building during a fire emergency should be given priority. The following recommendations explore other ways to mitigate exposure to COVID-19 during an evacuation:

Questions?

Titan’s emergency planning services capabilities include the creation of a facility-specific, all-hazards emergency plan. Every one of our current emergency services clients has a core pandemic response guide included as a portion of their emergency operations plan document. Contact Titan’s Director of Emergency Management, Tom Henkey at [email protected] if we can provide additional insight or assistance.

Additional Resources

As always, if you “See Something, Say Something”. For life-threatening emergencies, call 911. To report suspicious activity, call 855-RPRT-2-S4 (855-777-8274).