2 cissp ® Official Study Guide Eighth Edition

 Emergency Response 
A disaster recovery plan should contain simple yet comprehensive instructions for essen-
tial personnel to follow immediately upon recognizing that a disaster is in progress or is 
imminent. These instructions will vary widely depending on the nature of the disaster, the 
type of personnel responding to the incident, and the time available before facilities need to 
be evacuated and/or equipment shut down. For example, instructions for a large-scale fi re 
will be much more concise than the instructions for how to prepare for a hurricane that is 
still 48 hours away from a predicted landfall near an operational site. Emergency-response 
plans are often put together in the form of checklists provided to responders. When design-
ing such checklists, keep one essential design principle in mind: arrange the checklist tasks 
in order of priority, with the most important task fi rst! 
It’s essential to remember that these checklists will be executed in the midst of a crisis. It 
is extremely likely that responders will not be able to complete the entire checklist, especially 
in the event of a short-notice disaster. For this reason, you should put the most essential tasks 
(that is, “Activate the building alarm”) fi rst on the checklist. The lower an item on the list, the 
lower the likelihood that it will be completed before an evacuation/shutdown takes place.
 Personnel and Communications 
A disaster recovery plan should also contain a list of personnel to contact in the event of 
a disaster. Usually, this includes key members of the DRP team as well as personnel who 
execute critical disaster recovery tasks throughout the organization. This response checklist 
should include alternate means of contact (that is, pager numbers, mobile phone numbers, 
and so on) as well as backup contacts for each role should the primary contact be incom-
municado or unable to reach the recovery site for one reason or another. 
The Power of Checklists
Checklists are invaluable tools in the face of disaster. They provide a sense of order 
amid the chaotic events surrounding a disaster. Do what you must to ensure that 
response checklists provide fi rst responders with a clear plan to protect life and property 
and ensure the continuity of operations. 

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Recovery Plan Development