With disasters in the news seemingly on a daily basis, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has placed a great deal of emphasis on critical infrastructure protection and whole community preparedness.
The private sector is responsible for operating and maintaining the vast majority of the critical infrastructure that helps our communities function.
We’ve come to take for granted the most basic essential lifelines (power, fuel, water, money, food, medication and jobs).
How can we protect the critical infrastructure effectively without improving the private sector’s ability to recover quickly?
How can we make communities whole again without providing the necessary support to the lifelines upon which it relies?
The answer is: By instituting a robust post disaster access control system.
During times of crisis, businesses and government rely on employees and contractors, people with special skills that perform specific functions, to help maintain critical operations.
When these “essential” personnel are prevented from traveling to and accessing their facilities a domino effect occurs, which can cause recovery to grind to a halt.
(Learn why the CEAS program so important to the many businesses that utilize it. This short video will explain this unique public-private partnership and how businesses stay resilient by adding the program to their business continuity planning strategy. Courtesy of BNET and YouTube)
What is often lacking is an affirmative access control policy and process to help these essential employees and contractors to perform their duties.
Providing this policy and the tools to carry it out is what the Business Network of Emergency Resources (BNet), has been doing since 2003 through its one of a kind Corporate Emergency Access System (aka ‘CEAS’).
CEAS is a public-private partnership between emergency management, law enforcement and private sector businesses that ensures the ability for critical employees and contractors to travel and/or have access to critical facilities inside the “yellow tape” during and following emergencies.
It accomplishes this through the use of a pre-issued, secure identification card (CEAS Card).
The partnership defines the public/private access protocols and policies that allow CEAS credential holders to access and secure their businesses to initiate the recovery process.
CEAS balances the government’s need for safety and security with the community and businesses need to recover. It is provided to government at no cost.
CEAS currently operates in the following States and cities:
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- State of Rhode Island
- City of New York
- City of Philadelphia
- City of Baltimore
- City of Buffalo
- City of Stamford
- County of Nassau, NY
- County of Suffolk, NY
- County of Rockland, NY
Business Network of Emergency Resources (BNET)
BNET is a not-for-profit company dedicated to establishing practical and effective emergency and crisis management solutions through partnerships between the public and private sector.
The goal of CEAS is to accelerate recovery time for both business and government.
Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS) in 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program
The 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of Physical, IT, Port Security, Law Enforcement, First Responders, (Fire, EMT, Military, Support Services Vets, SBA, Medical Tech) as well as the Federal, State, County and Municipal Government Agencies – to acknowledge their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’
As an ‘ASTORS’ competitor, the CEAS will be competing against the industry’s leading providers of Innovative Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Recovery Solutions.
Good luck to CEAS on becoming a Winner of the 2017 American Security Today’s Homeland Security Awards Program!
To learn more about …… wide range of offerings, please visit the company’s website at http://www.ceas.com
