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Why Every Small and Mid-Sized Business Needs an Emergency Action Plan

On July 28, 2025, at 6:28 p.m., the workday at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan was winding down. Then, in less than a minute, it descended into terror. A 27-year-old man, later identified as Shane Tamura, calmly entered the building wearing body armor and carrying an AR-15–style rifle. Within seconds, he shot and killed an off-duty NYPD officer working security, fatally wounded a prominent Blackstone executive, and sprayed the lobby with gunfire before moving deeper inside. He ultimately killed four people and critically injured another, before turning the rifle on himself and barricading on the 33rd floor. The rampage became the deadliest mass shooting in New York City since the 2000 Wendy’s massacre in Queens.

For the employees trapped inside, survival depended on their ability to improvise. Some shoved furniture against doors. Others whispered into their phones, not knowing whether to call a spouse, a coworker, or the police. One cleaner hid in a closet as bullets tore through the door. Even in one of New York’s most secure office towers, equipped with reinforced safe rooms and advanced surveillance, these people were reduced to instinct.

(At Blackstone’s offices inside 345 Park Avenue, employees piled desks and chairs against a door, desperately trying to keep the gunman out.)

The statistics show us that instinct alone is not enough to protect the workplace. Nearly half of all active shooter incidents in the United States occur in ordinary commercial settings such as small offices, retail stores, and professional practices. The entire attack also lasted less than ten minutes. By the time NYPD had the building surrounded and tactical teams inside, the damage was done. That timeline reveals the harshest truth for us: in active shooter situations, survival is determined by the actions taken in those very first moments.

One Rudin Management employee actually even stepped out of a designated safe bathroom, unaware the gunman was directly behind her, and was killed. Without clear direction, her decision came down to instinct and tragically, instinct failed her. For many others inside 345 Park Avenue, there was no plan to follow. Improvised responses created confusion, fear, and exposure at the very moment when clarity mattered most.

This is why Emergency Action Plans are not optional. Too many small and mid-sized businesses dismiss incidents like the Manhattan shooting as “big city problems” or the responsibility of Fortune 500 companies. The reality is very different. Most SMBs don’t have proper training, defenses, or surveillance. In fact, we see that many lack the basics: clear evacuation routes, a lockdown procedure, or a plan for communication during a crisis. That gap leaves employees exposed and turns seconds of confusion into lives lost.

That’s how we know that an Emergency Action Plan is the difference between fear and order. It’s not a binder gathering dust on a shelf, but a living document that defines exactly how employees should act when crisis strikes. It explains who is responsible for communication, how to safely evacuate or lock down, what signals to use to indicate danger, and how staff can account for one another under stress. Just as important, it is practiced through drills so that the response becomes muscle memory.

Because in a crisis, you don’t rise to the occasion; you fall to your level of preparation. 

The events of July 28th make that distinction painfully clear. Those with a plan had options. Those without it had fear. That contrast is the lesson every organization must take away.

Safe Haven Risk Management specializes in designing Emergency Action Plans that are practical, customized, and tested. We begin by assessing the unique vulnerabilities of each workplace, then develop procedures that give employees protocols for what to do under extreme stress. Training sessions provide that staff understand their roles, while drills reinforce that knowledge until it becomes instinctive. The goal is not perfection, but confidence. Confidence that in the first seconds of a crisis, people know what to do. When seconds decide survival, the plan you make today saves lives tomorrow.