DEALING WITH EMERGENCIES

BOMB THREAT EMERGENCY SITUATION

 In case of any call received regarding the bomb threat, the hotels should tie-up with the
local police authority and follow their instructions.
 The person who receives the call should take complete details of the situation and should
even try to note down the voice and accent of the person calling regarding a bomb threat.
 Immediately the hotel should inform the anti-bomb squad and should defuse the bomb
after locating the place where it is planted.
 Signal the colleague to also listen in the call and try to find out the location through the
exchange. Listen to the caller carefully and make it prolong and get all the information
carefully like the place where planted, time of explosion and strength of explosives .
 If possible this call may be taped and note the back noise and try to catch information
from accent and police to be informed.
 Immediately after disconnection, the G M and security officer has to be informed.
 If the location is identified the department head should be also informed People from
that suspected area have to be evacuated from that particular location.
 After “all clear” signal from the police, the normal process of the hotel can be continued.

FIRE IN THE HOTEL

As soon the fire is detected and intimated to the front desk, the first thing to do is to inform the
telephone department.
In most hotels the telephone department plays a pivotal role of alarming the hotel. In smaller
hotel which have telephone department is merged with the front office, there the first job is to
call the fire department of that city for the help.
The front office should alert all guest and inform them to use the staircase and not the elevator.
The telephone exchange should always be manned during fire to communicate from one point to
another.
If the front office staff have to get actively involved in the procedure then they should search
each room thoroughly, specially under bed or in closets or bathrooms to ensure that no guest is
left behind.
They must guide the guest through the fire exit map and help in extinguishing the fire by the use
of appropriate fire extinguishers i.e. Foam for electrical fires and oil fires, water for the general
fires and so on.

ACCIDENTS
Accidents can occur anywhere and at any time and in a hotel, the likelihood of accidents
occurring is even higher because of the amount of human traffic that moves through it. These
accidents may involve guest or staff. In hotels, accidents usually happen in one of the following
areas:
• Stairways
• Balconies or landings
• Ramps
• Parking lot
• Bathtubs or showers.
HANDLING ACCIDENT CASES
Knowledge of first aid would come very handy in such situations. In general the following points
should be taken care of;
 Remove the person who has met with accident from the site of accident {as early as
possible and take him to a more comfortable area, use a stretcher in case the need be.
 Call the doctor and if possible give him the details of accident and gravity of the accident.
 Take someone along with you to the site of the accident as you may need help
 Keep alert you must serve the victim immediately by providing first aid
 Try to protect your establishment from any false allegations
  Prepare a full report of the whole accident giving details of the date and time who
reported the incident, room no., site of the accident etc. Also make your comments as to
the reason of the accident and how could it have been prevented and what action is to be
taken to avoid the same in the future.

GUEST ILLNESS

When a guest or staff does not feel well, the housekeeper should be informed. She may visit the
guest/staff, enquiring of his welfare and seeing what needs to be done towards their treatment. It
also reassures the patient. The front office should also be informed so that they too can follow up
on the condition of the guest from time to time. If the hotel doctor feels that the patient should be
moved to hospital the guest is advised so, and if he agrees, then he is moved to a hospital- maybe
of his choice. The guest is required to pay for the hospitalization expenses. The front office must
maintain a list of specialist doctors along with their phone numbers and addresses. If the guest
desires, they may be contacted and the guest pays for their services. The services of the hotel
doctor may not be charged for. In case of a notifiable or communicable disease, the doctor will
advise removing the person to a hospital. In this case the room may have to be fumigated and
thoroughly cleansed and proper clearance and authorization will be required from the
housekeeping, maintenance and the FOM before the room is released for new guests. Also, the
relatives of the patient will have to be informed by front office.

DEATH OF GUEST

In case of death of a person on the premises, the lobby manager and security should immediately
be informed, usually by the housekeeping. The FOM or Resident Manager and the GM must be
informed. The hotel doctor would be required to confirm the death. The room’s air conditioning
or central heating would be switched off and the room sealed to prevent entry of unauthorized
personnel. The hotel will locate the residential address of the guest and inform his relatives, etc.
a death certificate should be taken from the doctor. In all circumstances, especially doubtful
circumstances, the police will need to be called for further investigations. When allowed by the
doctor or police, the body will be removed.
To avoid needless unpleasantness from spreading amongst the guests the body is removed
through the service elevator and back-of-the- house. Staff should be instructed not to gossip
needlessly with other employees or guests. An incident report should be prepared covering the
details of the occurrence of death- time, room number, steps taken, etc. In case there is luggage
and other belongings of the guest, these should be collected, a list prepared and the items placed
in the luggage room with a note and the signature of the person performing this activity must be
recorded as well. The incident report should be submitted to the management.
Robbery

 Armed robbery is a possibility at lodging properties since hotels typically maintain large
sums of cash on premises. Front office and revenue centre cashiers should comply with a
robber’s demands and make no sudden movements or attempts to thwart the crime.
 Unexpected actions or lack of cooperation by front office staff might prompt the robber
to become violent. Front office cashiers should not do anything to jeopardize their lives
or the lives of others. They should remain quiet unless directed to talk, keep hands in
sight, and should not attempt to disarm the robber or use a weapon.
 Front office management may install a silent alarm in the cash drawer that is activated
when a certain packet of bills is removed. When complying with a robber’s demand for
money, the front office cashier is trained to remove this packet of bills with the rest of the
money. The front office cashier must not act suspicious or the robber may suspect  an
alarm being triggered.

  Situation of Theft
Theft is divided into four categories:

Theft by employees of the hotel can be avoided by:

 Work business and personal references should be checked before the employee is hired.
 A detailed record of all employees who enter the guest room such as chamber maid’s
,bellboy’s ,room boy’s ,maintenance etc.
 Hotel keys should be returned to the department concerned and no employee should be
allowed to take keys out of the hotel’s premises.
 Theft of hotel property by the guest:

Can be avoided by taking the following steps:

 Installing automatic locks on the guest room doors

 Appointing a security officer who would walk and take rounds at regular intervals
 Inform guests to use the safe vault of the hotel and not to keep valuables in the guest
room
 Keep a watch on walk in as their likelihood of being a thief is more as compared to a
guest who has undergone a process of making a reservation in the hotel
 Avoid giving room numbers of resident guests to visitors or over the telephone callers.
 In case the guest loses his key and asks housekeeping to open the room door for them,
HK should direct them to front desk
 Master key should be kept under strict supervision and control.

 Theft by outside visitors can be avoided by:

 Being aware of suspicious persons.

 Regular and irregular schedule of vigil and security rounds.
 Stagger lunch and rest periods of employees so as to keep one person on duty on each
floor at all times.
 Instruct the telephone operator not to connect calls to the guest room incase the request is
made by the caller by room number. The receptionist should insist on knowing the name
of the guest who the caller wishes to speak to.
 Guest should be informed to keep the balcony door closed to avoid anyone entering the
rooms from the balcony.
 Closed circuit televisions should be used.