Emergency Planning and Operations Methodology

Emergency, Planning and Operations Methodology

The Department of Homeland Security is fully aware of the importance of local and state first responders. Currently managed under the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other various offices, local firefighters, state and local law enforcement, and local emergency medical personnel would be subject to the Department of Homeland Security's authority (http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/sect4.html).Moreover, the Department is prepared to "develop and manage a national training and evaluation system to design curriculums, set standards, evaluate, and reward performance in local, state, and federal training efforts" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/sect4.html).Through FEMA, emergency supplies, food and shelter would be allocated to supplement the work of local agencies that are already providing such needs at the community level (http://www.fema.gov).Moreover, FEMA would coordinate "private industry, the insurance sector, mortgage lenders, the real estate industry, homebuilding associations, citizens, and others" in high-risk areas (http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/sect4.html).

It is clearly laid out that the Department of Homeland Security would assume control of and responsibility of all federal, state, and local emergency response departments. The Department states that in the event of an emergency it "would manage and coordinate federal entities supporting local and state emergency response efforts" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/sect4.html).In the March 2003 issue of "The Public Manager," David J. Robertson reports that such efforts actually began the day of September 11, 2001 (Robertson 2003). The Council of Governments brought together "federal, state, and local officials and the private sector to develop a regional emergency coordination plan, RECP," in an effort to eliminate the communication and coordination problems of September 11th (Robertson 2003). Robertson reports that the COG has focused on public safety and security during most of the last two years (Robertson 2003). Moreover, the committees have addressed fifteen emergency support functions, ESF, based on the structure of FEMA's response plan, and for each ESF, the RECP now identified the entities and their involvement in an incident or emergency response (Robertson 2003). Furthermore, there are detailed "plans and procedures for information sharing and coordination" and is aware that "since a regional incident or emergency may require multiple ESF's to take joint action, the RECP accounts for this by creating what are coined as 'annexes,'" to respond to specific needs such as disease surveillance, water supplies, and emergency transportation (Robertson 2003).

According to the Department's outline, in the event of emergency, state and local officials would be given one primary contact and one contact "when it comes to matter related to training, equipment, planning, exercises and other critical homeland security needs" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/sect4.html).As Robertson points out, communications is the primary focus regarding the implementation of the regional emergency plan and the need to establish a regional incident communication and coordination system, RICCS, is "one of the first elements of the emergency preparedness ad hoc task force's plan to be implemented" (Robertson 2003). The RICCS's mission is to ensure that response to potential and actual emergencies is timely and effective regarding the communication and coordination between federal, local and state authorities (Robertson 2003). The RICCS system operates seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day so that "officials participating in the RECP and other key decision makers can be notified of incidents and share information" (Robertson 2003).

The ESF #8 section of the RECP incorporates plans for public health services and private organizations, such as hospitals and the American Red Cross, describes four levels of risk assessment, listing a confirmed bioterroist attack being the highest (Robertson 2003). This system allows regional officials to coordinate experts to assess and participate in decision making, working together to create common public messages (Robertson 2003). As Robertson explains, "the main focus of communication and coordination through the RICCS is on regional impacts away from the site of an emergency and related to mobility, public health, and public safety" (Robertson 2003).

Moreover, to communicate decisions, the RICCS can use conference calls arranged through "telephone, two-way radios, pagers, email, cellular phone, and other devices" (Robertson 2003). Furthermore, each ESF section corresponds to a similar section of FEMA's structure. Robertson explains that community participants and COG "were careful to devise an all-hazards emergency plan that can be used during emergencies like the tornadoes that ravaged several suburban Maryland towns in 2002" (Robertson 2003).

In such emergencies, the American Red Cross would play a vital role, due to the fact that it is a first respondent to more than 67,000 disasters each year, including "hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hazardous materials spills, transportation accidents, explosions, and other natural and man-made disasters" (http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_319_,00.html).

The regional evacuation plan includes what is referred to as 'sheltering in place' and for bringing into a region the essential materials and resources (Robertson 2003).

According to transportation planners, the type of emergency incident would determine decisions to relocate masses of people and while emergency managers would not move citizens into harm's way, they would provide food and care whether or not a true evacuation takes place (Robertson 2003).

On September 11, 2002, the COG adopted the final version of the regional emergency coordination plan, which became the first such national regional plan after the 2001 terrorists attacks, according to the National Association of Regional Councils (Robertson 2003). Then in October 2002, some "450 emergency management officials participated in a regional leaders seminar designed to test and exercise elements of the RECP through a combination of education sessions and scenario-based tabletop exercises" (Robertson 2003). Afterwards, the participants actually practiced using the RICCS and coordinating the emergency functions of local officials, including fire and law enforcement, "transportation agencies, and federal, state, and local authorities" and soon had a real-world test when the sniper crisis arose (Robertson 2003).