Critical Incident Management Plan: Public-Private Protocols
This paper outlines the core components of a critical incident management plan designed to coordinate public and private sector responses to emergencies. Drawing primarily on Jones, Kowalk, and Miller (2000), it explains how risk assessment identifies natural and man-made hazards, how functions are prioritized by criticality and vulnerability, and how the Incident Command System (ICS) structures coordinated emergency response. The paper also clarifies the respective responsibilities of the public sector and private sector Crisis Management Teams (CMTs), emphasizing the importance of joint planning and cooperative partnerships in protecting lives, property, and community continuity during critical incidents.
- Introduction and Plan Objectives: Defines critical incidents and outlines five plan objectives
- Risk Assessment: Identifies natural and man-made hazards through self-assessment
- Prioritization of Business Functions: Classifies functions by criticality, timing, and vulnerability
- Public Sector Responsibilities: Defines public sector's role in community safety and intervention
- The Incident Command System (ICS): Explains ICS structure and public-private coordination roles
- Summary and Conclusion: Emphasizes need for joint public-private emergency collaboration
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly structured around the sequential steps of a management plan — from risk assessment through prioritization to command systems — making it easy to follow the logical progression.
- Consistently grounds each section in a single authoritative source (Jones, Kowalk, and Miller, 2000), demonstrating focused use of primary reference material.
- Uses numbered lists effectively to itemize classification criteria and objectives, enhancing readability and comprehension of procedural content.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates framework exposition — the systematic unpacking of a policy or procedural document into its component parts. Rather than building an original argument, the writer synthesizes and explains an established protocol, showing how each element (risk identification, prioritization classification, command structure) connects to the overarching goal of coordinated emergency response. This is a valuable skill in applied fields like public administration, emergency management, and policy studies.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a report-style structure with five substantive sections: an introductory overview of plan objectives, a risk assessment section covering natural and man-made hazards, a prioritization section introducing criticality and vulnerability classifications, a section on public sector legal responsibilities, and a section on the Incident Command System. A brief conclusion ties together the need for public-private collaboration. The use of numbered headings and referenced figures reinforces the document's policy-report format.
Introduction and Plan Objectives
A critical incident is defined as any event or situation that threatens people and/or their homes, businesses, or community. The objective of a plan to manage such events encompasses several protocols:
(1) the creation of public and private sector understanding of their common goal to protect lives and property while sustaining continuity of community life; (2) providing encouragement to public and private sector entities that may have engaged in assessment and planning processes in isolation to form cooperative partnerships; (3) assisting businesses and communities lacking emergency planning experience in the development of a joint emergency planning process; (4) developing an understanding of mutual or respective goals and recognizing how public and private resources can complement and support each other; and (5) serving as a resource for those engaged in the planning process (Jones, Kowalk, & Miller, 2000).
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment involves every public and private sector component and includes the identification of all potential hazards and threats, including those that are (1) natural and (2) man-made. Natural threats include tornadoes, floods, winter storms, earthquakes, and power outages. Man-made threats include terrorist attacks, workplace violence, explosions, bombings, and other accidents (Jones, Kowalk, & Miller, 2000).
A self-risk assessment includes the following steps: (1) examine the broadest categories of risk, moving from a generalized risk assessment to specific risks; (2) list previous incidents and/or potential threats or events, beginning with the obvious and working toward the less likely; and (3) determine what is vital for continued business operations and what might cause significant business interruptions (Jones, Kowalk, & Miller, 2000).
Prioritization of Business Functions
The next step is prioritizing and identifying the importance of each unit or component to continued business operations. Functions are classified as either: (1) critical; (2) essential; or (3) non-essential (Jones, Kowalk, & Miller, 2000).
Upon identification of critical business functions, those functions must be further classified by timing as: (1) immediate — needed within 0 to 24 hours; (2) delayed — needed within 24 hours to seven days; or (3) deferred — needed beyond seven days. Finally, a determination must be made as to whether the business is: (1) highly vulnerable; (2) vulnerable; or (3) not vulnerable (Jones, Kowalk, & Miller, 2000). The following figure provides an example of these classifications.
Figure 1: Risk Assessment Matrix
Source: Jones, Kowalk, and Miller (2000)
References
Jones, R. W., Kowalk, M. A., & Miller, P. P. (2000). Critical incident protocol: A public and private partnership. Office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
Agency administrator's guide to critical incident management. (2008). National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
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