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How to Handle a Bomb Threat

Whether it's an anonymous phone call, a suspicious package or a cryptic note, the clock is ticking. Here's what to do before and during a bomb threat.

Another rule of thumb for Daly: If there are no current labor issues, disgruntled employees or activist groups targeting the organization, the threats are treated “jaundicedly,” but security personnel still discreetly walk through the facility to look for anything out of place.

If the caller claims to have left an explosive devise on the premises, consider how accessible the facility is. Is the building open to everyone or can only employees enter with proper ID? Are visitors screened? “That may give the company a better comfort level as to whether to take a general threat seriously,” Daly adds.

An open facility, such as a shopping mall, hotel or hospital, offers a much greater challenge. If the threat is specific as to time and location, the call should be taken seriously and evacuation should be considered, especially if there is no time to search for a device.

4 Decide whether to evacuate.

Based on the information gathered from steps 2 and 3, the facility manager, on advice from the CSO and law enforcement, should make the decision whether to evacuate.

“Managers are fairly hesitant to call for evacuations, and I think that’s appropriate because the vast majority of these calls are hoaxes,” Lusher says. Formerly a security director at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, Lusher recalls that on Preakness race day “we almost always got bomb threats. With 90,000 people there, it would be hard to evacuate them. It probably would cause a lot more damage by evacuating than not.”

Especially in retail areas where the general public is involved, the decision to evacuate is a difficult one. “The security director has to be pretty active in convincing the general manager [to evacuate],” Lusher says. “There’s a huge amount of second guessing and economic loss if evacuating or temporarily shutting down a shopping center. There’s a sense that we had better be right to do this.”

Local law enforcement will rarely make the decision to evacuate a private building unless they have specific knowledge about a plan or device.

5 Provide calm, direct assistance during the evacuation.

Once the decision has been made to evacuate an area or building, make an announcement through the company’s public-address system. “Don’t give too much information,” Daly cautions, and don’t panic people by using the word bomb. Let them know security personnel are investigating an incident and ask everyone to exit the building quickly.

Occupants may also need convincing that the evacuation is for real. The National Research Council of Canada reports that in an emergency, most people will not exit a building when they first hear a fire alarm, for instance. They will instead wait for more cues, such as smoke, before leaving. “If there is going to be an evacuation, not only do we announce it on a PA, but we have security officers and officials make sure they get that information directly to the people in the mall” and send them to the exits, Lusher says.