Our services draw from decades of real-life experiences. We share the tour operator’s perspective and work collaboratively with organizations to develop customized emergency response plans, incident management plans, medical information collection and processing systems and more.
Emergency Response Plan Development
Are you prepared in the event an emergency happens to one of your student groups?
There is inherent risk in all forms of travel and unwanted situations do occasionally arise. The best defense is diligent planning and practice in advance. More and more school districts are asking travel organizations to share their Emergency Response Plans as part of their contract development. They want to know your organization is ready to deal with a crisis should one arise. Travel Safety Solutions can help!
Based on real-life experiences, we share the tour operator’s perspective and will work collaboratively with your organization to develop a customized emergency response plan that fits your specific needs. Our goal is to help you identify the potential risks and come up with solid solutions to support your organization in delivering an effective response.
Practice makes perfect and we can help you facilitate tabletop exercises, as well as perform a full crisis simulation to give your teams real experiences to draw on should a crisis arise.
Incident Management Planning and Training
A crisis is rare, but incidents occurring during student group tours are commonplace. Having sound structures and procedures in place to address those situations and manage the event and communication with stakeholders is critical. Even the smallest incident can escalate into a crisis if not handled promptly and correctly.
We have years of experience dealing with just about every situation you can imagine. We help design and implement incident management programs that reduce the chance of any important detail going unattended. We also help design a solid incident report program so your organization can capture critical details of each incident or near miss, determine how to classify them and decide where they should go for proper handling. The development of a decision pyramid will help you understand when and how to escalate more significant events.
Next, by tracking patterns in student behavior and accidents, we use data to help design improved policies and procedures to reduce the possibility of future incidents.
Medical Information Collection and Processing Systems
Understanding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is vital for any travel organization. Mike Bowers is a certified ADA speaker and stays up to date on the latest changes to ADA and HIPAA. Together, you will establish procedures to help travelers understand their rights and assist tour operators in making more informed and reasonable accommodations under the law. He also advises on HIPAA laws to help you avoid violations and damaging litigation.
The goal is to help tour operators gain greater understanding and appreciation for these important acts and work with your organization to achieve compliance.
On-Call Support Service
Many of our clients take advantage of Travel Safety Solutions’ 24/7 on-call support packages. In the event of a crisis or incident—no matter where you are in the world—we will be at your disposal at a moment’s notice to help with a range of situations. This service allows clients the comfort of knowing expert support is always just a phone call away.
Standards Development and Implementation
In 2017, Mike Bowers lead the development of the Student Travel Safety Standards for the Student & Youth Travel Association—the premier association of businesses dedicated to providing life enhancing travel experiences to students and young people. This work was an industry changing initiative to improve overall safety and risk management practices throughout the student and youth travel industry. Now, Mike brings his standards development expertise to other travel related associations and organizations to help them improve operations.
Development of Organizational CARE Team Efforts
No matter how small an event, travelers and their families should receive timely and appropriate support and accurate information to help them navigate such an event. Travel Safety Solutions can provide guidance and resources to help travel organizations and schools develop and implement these programs.
“CARE” stands for Compassionate Assistance Response Effort.
CARE Team members are trained to provide timely and accurate information, in addition to logistical support to families if and when they need it. Programs and training focus on:
- Understanding and meeting the needs of travelers and family members.
- Upholding the importance of maintaining the confidential nature of information received and the family’s private information.
- Properly and thoroughly documenting all commitments made to families.
- Clearly communicating policies and practices to families.
- Understanding and appreciating cultural diversity.
Helping School Districts and Teachers Select a Reputable Travel Provider
Recent global challenges have highlighted the need for school districts to clearly define what is most important to them when selecting a student travel organization to organize and facilitate their travel needs.
Travel Safety Solutions can help schools understand desired services that go beyond securing financial deposit and travel fees. It’s vital to know what to ask student travel organizers and be aware of how they prepare their organization to reduce the chance of unwanted events surfacing during a school’s travel event. It all starts with the request for proposals and detailing these critical details and requirements at the beginning of the relationship.
Travel Safety Solutions has helped establish the safety and operational policies for the student travel industry and can help school districts focus on what’s important to include in travel requirements.