The Palm Beach County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan - Assignment Example

The Palm Beach County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan The Palm Beach County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan The overall goal of the CEMP is to state the main organizational structure, roles and responsibilities, partners, and stakeholder agencies before, during and after a disaster. Stating the goal at the very beginning gives the plan a definitive structure and meaning that will be consistent throughout the rest of the plan (Penuel, 2013). Stating the goal at the beginning also makes readers capable of understanding the crux of the plan and applying it in every possible way.

The CEMP is modeled after the National Incident Management System, and is based on “who,” “what” and “how” elements of disaster management (Wilkinson, Lewis and Dennis, 2010). The National Incident Management System provides a template for the CEMP to follow since it is federally mandated for agencies at all levels of government, based on the Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5).The NIMS has been fully incorporated into all the response and recovery initiatives. The NIMS basically acts as a guideline for the CEMP since new frameworks do not have to be developed (Wilkinson, Lewis and Dennis, 2010).

The CEMP developers only need to customize the structure of the NIMS to fit the needs of whatever geographical area they are working on (Chou and Chen, 2013). In this case, the guidelines of the NIMS can be adapted to fit Palm Beach County’s CEMP and work on original plans will be minimal. The CEMP has four essential elements, which are the Basic Plan, Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs), Emergency Management (EM) Coordinating Procedures, and the Hazard Specific Plans (HSPs). The basic plan provides information on the concept of operations, coordination, control and organizational structure, general purpose, scope and methodology of the plan, and identifies responsibilities of all entities and resources harnessed by the County to help in disaster recovery (Nagar, 2010).

SOGs are agency or section-specific and are used by organizations to actualize the purposes, missions, or operations outlined by the complimentary HSPs or Coordinating Procedures (Wilkinson, Lewis and Dennis, 2010). HSPs serve as the foundation for effective response to known hazards and support the incorporation of mitigation into response and recovery operations (Penuel, 2013). The Coordinating Procedures explain by Section, the primary, auxiliary, and coordinating entities, and their roles and responsibilities in the four stages of emergency management.

The CEMP covers the following events:a) Wind eventsb) Communicable diseasesc) Floodsd) Firee) Domestic securityf) Erosion/subsidenceg) Transportation h) Severe weatheri) Radiological emergency preparednessj) Mass migrationk) H. Hoover Dikel) HAZMATThe scope of the plan covers the following:i) Creation of official policies for Palm Beach County municipalities that are yet to develop and acquired approval of their own CEMP.ii) Creation of official policies, planning assumptions and program strategies for disaster preparedness, recovery, response, and mitigation (Nagar, 2010).iii) A countrywide coordination and scope with all constitutional offices, autonomous taxing districts, and municipalities.iv) Provision of all-hazards organizational guideline for emergency activities.v) Creation of basic direction and control for all disaster levels while establishing a stable unified plan for emergency management.vi) Assigning specific and detailed functional duties to relevant local sections, volunteer organizations and private sector groups, in addition to explaining methods of coordinating with state, municipal and federal collaborators to enhance resource utilization (Wilkinson, Lewis and Dennis, 2010). vii) Prepared with the requirements of Rule 9G-6, F.A.C.

, as mandated by Chapter 252, F.S. and backs the National Response Framework as well as the State of Florida.viii) Adheres to the framework of NIMS.ix) Supports the integration of enhanced technologies, compatibility, and interoperability of ideas to improve the general response coordination and capabilities.x) Complimentary function-specific SOGs and operational structures of responsible agencies (Penuel, 2013).xi) Transition to the Recovery Operations Center based on the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and the Post-Disaster Redevelopment Plan (PDRP).

The CEMP purpose can be summarized as follows: Providing direction to Palm Beach County for all four stages of emergency management that comprises mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery (Chou and Chen, 2013).ReferencesChou, S., & Chen, D. (2013). Emergent disaster rescue methods and prevention management. Disaster Prevention and Management, 22(3), 265-277.Nagar, R. (2010). Disaster management. New Delhi: A.P.H. Pub. Corp.Penuel, K. B. (2013). Encyclopedia of crisis management. Los Angeles, Calif.

: SAGE Reference.Wilkinson, F. C., Lewis, L. K., & Dennis, N. K. (2010). Comprehensive guide to emergency preparedness and disaster recovery. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.