Dealing with an Emergency

Some days are a bit tougher than others.

Apparently the big gap the kitten used to get into the back side of the box holding up the garage heating system’s water tank was not the way he ultimately decided to exit.

One of the major lessons learned over the years when it comes to confronting a serious problem is first to _not_ panic.

If the situation was dire, then there may be a need to put the back against the wall and squat down all the while doing controlled breathing exercises to gain a hold on the rush of adrenalin, fears, and angst that is surely to be happening.

Taking that first step to be somewhat calm in the midst of what could be utter chaos is critical.

From there, we need to walk through and discover as many steps as we can that led to the problem we are facing. Finding out as much information about the circumstances prior to the emergency can be very helpful in figuring out a diagnosis and the next steps to get out of the situation.

Yes, folks may be hovering over and repeatedly interrupting us as we try and work our way back into a functioning system. A gentle, “We are working on the situation, we will update you as soon as there are any changes” will go a long way towards reducing those interruptions that can actually pose a grave threat to a successful completion of the task(s) at hand.

Make sure to have paper and pens/pencils in hand. Write everything down.

We should have our own laptop/ultrabook/tablet and a cell modem set up. Also, we need to have the client’s network audit notes open and available for immediate perusal. Using our own equipment would help keep things calm and on the level due to being familiar with our own equipment.

In other words, in as much as we possibly can, be prepared.

Oh, and use caution if a drive will be required to get to the client site!

Needless to say he was stuck in there for quite a while before yours truly rescued him by getting him out the same way he got into that hole that was _just_ enough for his head to fit through!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
www.thirdtier.net/enterprise-solutions-for-small-business/

Windows Live Writer