When every second counts: the critical role of emergency Knowledge Management
- Meirav Barsadeh
- Jul 27
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 29
During an emergency, when time is a scarce resource, the ability to quickly retrieve the right information becomes critical.
As the world faces increasingly frequent extreme situations, from climate crises and pandemics to cyber attacks and security incidents, organizations are beginning to understand that good knowledge management infrastructure is not a luxury - it's a condition for organizational survival and effective functioning.
How do you build an effective knowledge management system that functions in the moment of truth, and what happens when you don't prepare in advance?
What is "Emergency Knowledge Management"?
Emergency knowledge management encompasses everything an organizational employee needs to locate, retrieve, and utilize critical information promptly.
Here are several examples:
Population evacuation protocols
Works contacts with government agencies and emergency authorities
Technical knowledge about critical infrastructure
Current information about disruptions, solutions, and key personnel
Even informal knowledge like "who knows how to operate the alert system when there's no electricity".
This knowledge must be accessible from anywhere, often outside the regular organizational network, and sometimes even under communication constraints.
Unlike daily content that can be checked, improved, and updated without pressure, during emergencies there's no room for errors. Any delay in accessing information could result in lost time, money, or even human lives.
Recent events have highlighted how critical knowledge management is:
During an earthquake that struck Turkey, international aid teams reported that difficulty locating documents needed for logistical coordination delayed the transfer of vital rescue equipment.
During snowstorms in the US, hospitals struggled to function when information systems crashed, because there was no accessible knowledge infrastructure for manual operation of critical processes.
During the COVID pandemic, many organizations were forced to "reinvent themselves" under pressure, since there was no existing infrastructure for remote work, changing guidelines, or alternative training systems.
Israel experienced a similar reality during the Hamas attack on October 7th, 2023. During those difficult days, many entities were required to respond immediately. Local authorities, educational institutions, businesses, and even essential organizations discovered that they lacked immediate access to basic information, including evacuation procedures, alternative communication methods, and updated contact details.
How do you build a knowledge infrastructure ready for emergencies?
Available and accessible information – always. Cloud-based systems that allow remote access even when disconnected from organizational offices are critical. You must ensure that even during power outages, network failures, or lockdowns, the information remains in your possession.
Organize by scenarios, not by departments. Instead of organizing content by divisions, content worlds, or file names, organize it according to the key question: "What happened now?" For example: "cyber incident," "missile attack," "infrastructure disruption," "blocked access to production site," "employee evacuation."
Ongoing maintenance, not one-time work. Appoint an employee who will be responsible for updating the information at least once per quarter. Like emergency equipment that requires periodic inspection, knowledge repositories also require routine updates. Outdated procedures can be not only useless, but might be dangerous.
Organizational culture of documentation. Knowledge stored in a veteran employee's head that hasn't been passed on won't survive the emergency. The most resilient organizations are those where documentation, sharing, and updating knowledge are routine work processes backed by management support.
The more employees document, share, and preserve important knowledge in an accessible way, the more the entire system becomes resilient to emergencies.
Not just physical drills - knowledge simulation too
Most organizations conduct annual emergency drills, but few include in-depth tests of knowledge readiness. Information retrieval simulation scenarios are often the weak link.
Real practice should also test the following questions:
Do employees know where to find the required information?
How long does it take to locate a critical procedure or contact person?
Is the information updated, clear, and accessible on mobile phones?
Are there translated or adapted versions for international employees?
Do knowledge systems function even in the case of failure/disconnection from the internal network?
Proper simulation focuses not only on people, but also on knowledge pathways—how information flows, through whom, at what speed, and through which channels.
Tips for building emergency knowledge readiness
Survey existing infrastructure. Do you have a knowledge center today? Who's responsible for it? Is it available from a mobile device? If not, start there.
Create digital "scenario files." For each scenario (evacuation, failure, natural disaster, or cyber attack), create a digital file containing all the necessary information: procedures, names, checklists, forms, and contacts.
Define key knowledge personnel. For each critical area or task, appoint "knowledge keepers" whose role is to update, check, and ensure knowledge remains relevant even under changing conditions.
Prepare for systemic failure scenarios. Ensure there's a local copy or backup means for critical information, such as a PDF document on a secure tablet, portable information card, or cloud solution that doesn't depend on internal servers.
Share with employees and train them. Develop short training sessions on "how to find information during emergencies," specifically targeting field personnel, support staff, or management.
Practice, learn lessons, and repeat the process. Periodic checking of organizational knowledge is just as important as checking equipment.
Still, not every organization comes prepared, and emergencies rarely wait for preparedness.
Suppose you find yourself in an emergency without an organized knowledge management infrastructure. In that case, there are still practical steps you can take during the event to reduce damage, improve response, and establish a foundation for future learning:
Ensure the establishment of a unified information collection center. In an emergency, there must be a "conscious bottleneck"- an employee or a small team that will concentrate information and distribute it effectively. This center will serve as the primary point of contact for questions, updates, and instructions, even if it operates at this stage only via phone, WhatsApp, or email. This could be an experienced employee from operations or management. It's important to define and announce who this is.
Define tools for communication with employees, even if they're temporary tools. Confusion is a dangerous enemy during emergencies. Even without an organized system, basic rules can be established:
Shared file with decisions
Message group for teams
Regular updates every two hours, even if "nothing new"
Short breaking news when there's an immediate need for something specific.
Along the way, document what you know right now, even on paper or in a simple email. The beginning of documentation will form a basis for future learning.
Use what you have. This isn't the time to build or use new systems. Use existing platforms:
WhatsApp for team management
Google Docs or cloud Excel for task and contact management
PDF files or images that can be distributed via mobile phone, instead of unavailable procedures
If you have even a partial version of procedures, it's better to use it than "invent" each action anew.
Mark people with critical knowledge. If there's no information system, the information is in people. Identify who knows what (procedures, phones, backups, contacts), assign them by areas, and distribute this knowledge to two to three additional employees, at least.
Start documenting, even during the event. Recommended to document:
Decisions made
What worked and what didn't
Which problems recurred repeatedly.
Write things down, not just for control purposes, but also for learning lessons immediately afterward.
Upon return to routine (even if partial), begin knowledge system recovery. Consolidate everything learned. Document scenarios that occurred. Create an initial basis for organizational knowledge management from the real event.
Instead of dwelling on "how we weren't prepared," ask: “how do we ensure we will be next time”?
Summary: Investment in routine = resilience in emergency
In every country, field, or type of organization, emergency knowledge management is a critical component of preparedness, functioning, and recovery.
The next crises may be unpredictable, but the ability to deal with them depends directly on what we did in advance: how we organized the information, how updated it is, and how we ensured it reaches its destination even when everything goes wrong.
Remember: knowledge that isn't accessible is equivalent to knowledge that doesn't exist.
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