Emergency Planning - Research Paper Example

 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Certificate of Authorship 2 Question 1 3 1.a. The most important mission, goal or objective of the plan and why. 3 1.b. The legislative authority for the plan and what it accomplishes. 4 1.c. The command and control structure,and why it is essential to the plan. 5 1.d. The levels of activation. Provide an example of an emergency and discuss each activation level from the plan as it would relate to events in the emergency you selected. 6 Question 2 7 2.a. Hazard mitigation 7 2.b. Emergency response 8 2.c. Disaster recovery 8 2.d. Emergency preparedness 9 Question 3 9 Question 4 10 4.a. What assumptions were built into the plan? 11 4.b. Why did the planner(s) include them? 13 4.c. Why are they significant to the success of the plan? 13 Question 5 13 5.a. Primary agency and primary responsibilities 14 5.b. Scope, purpose, or objectives 14 5.c. Organization and the complications it may present 15 5.d. Specific actions related to mitigation, response, recovery and preparedness under the ESF 15 5.e. Strengths and weaknesses 16 References 17 Emergency Planning Introduction The aim of this paper is to analyze one of the two emergency plans are presented. The two emergency plans presented are St. Louis County, Missouri Emergency Operation Plan (January, 2010) and State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan (February, 2010). The plan selected for analysis of the final project is the ‘State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan (February, 2010).’ The final project requires to analyze and discuss elements within the selected plan and the final project also required outside research to support the analysis. Outside means electronic, i.e. Internet, research is expected in this assignment and textbook is not considered as an outside research source for purposes of this project. The analysis of the final project is divided into five parts answering five questions and their sub-components found in this project. The final project also includes the following Certificate of Authorship. Certificate of Authorship “I hereby certify that I am the author of this final project and any assistance I received in preparing this course work is fully acknowledged. I also certify that neither the contents of this final project nor a substantial part (more than 10%) of its contents, have been used to satisfy the requirements of another class. I have also cited,using APA format, all sources from which I obtained ideas, data or exact wording. The source’s exact wording is set off with quotation marks. Sources are properly credited according to the APA guidelines.’ Question 1 Discuss the following elements found in the plan: a. The most important mission, goal or objective of the plan and why. b. The legislative authority for the plan and what it accomplishes. c. The command and control structure,and why it is essential to the plan. d. The levels of activation. Provide an example of an emergency and discuss each activation level from the plan as it would relate to events in the emergency you selected. Answer 1 1.a. The most important mission, goal or objective of the plan and why. The State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) is the document for the State of Florida which guides for the operations in responding to all emergencies and all catastrophic disasters whether major or minor. The CEMP describes the responsibilities of the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) which comprises government, private, volunteer and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of all levels. The presidentially declared disasters are also captured by the CEMP under the authority and role of the federal government (State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan, February, 2010). Emergencies are uncertain and there is a need of a definite plan to deal with emergencies and the mission of the CEMP is to provide guidance to SERT in an emergency. It also describes deficiencies needed to be rectified before the occurrence of an emergency. The deficiencies include lack of resources like trained personnel, equipment, supplies, etc. Another objective of the CEMP is to promote awareness and preparedness for safety and ensure security and well being of citizens, visitors, local governemts and other commercial and NGOs (State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan, February, 2010). The significance of the plan is important because emergencies are a frequent occurance in the State of Florida and it can be only prevented by pre-planning. In absence of any such plan there may be a chaos during emergiencies for shortage of time, lack of resources, and need of taking urgent decisions rapidly. In the absence of such plan there is a probability of poor judgement and delay in providing assistance (State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan, February, 2010). The emergency (CEMP) plan provides procedures to handle unexpected situations and its objective is to prevent loss of life and injury, to reduce infrastructural damages, to accelerate resumption of normal life and to reduce other possible consequences of the emergency. 1.b. The legislative authority for the plan and what it accomplishes. The legislative authority for the plan is necessary to avoid conflicting responsibilities and duplication of services during an emergency or disaster. Pre-planned coordination is decided by the legislative authorities and in case of emergencies, first of all, the resources of local governments such as police, fire, and medical services are used for the event. The State Emergency Response Team (SERT) only provides assistance when requested by the local government in case of its failure in handling the situation efficiently (Community Emergency Preparedness: A Manual for Managers and Policy-Makers, 1999). According to Executive Order 80-29 and supported by Attorney General Opinion 95-24 the emergency situations can be handled by a pre-determined chain of command for avoiding avoid organizational difficulties. An outside agency may take control of the command only under certain special circumstances. In Florida, Chapter 252 prescribes the sequence in which the roles of the counties, special districts, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and The Federal Government is described as mentioned below and the local and the state government must adhere to their statutory responsibilities in the given sequence: A. County Responsibilities B. Special Districts C. The Florida Division of Emergency Management: D. The Federal Government 1.c. The command and control structure,and why it is essential to the plan. According to the command and control structure, the local jurisdiction is responsible for the intial response to all emergencies and disasters and they work with emergency management agency of the county. After exhaustion of the local resourses or in lack of adequate resources the local authorities request for the assistance from the state emergency management agency. Both the local and state responders remain under the control of the management and supervisors of their parent organizations. Key officials act according to the plan or by order of the executive or by the state law for the execution of their responsibility under the direction and control of multi-agency state response and recovery operations in a defined area of responsibility within Florida. These key officials hold the responsibility of taking decisions for priorities of response and recovery. They are also responsible for committing necessary and reasonable state resources to satisfy the needs. They also hold the authority of issuing mission assignments involving the commitment of state personnel and/or material resources, and the expenditures of state funds to resolve emergency and/or disaster requirements (1991 Bangladesh Cyclone). 1.d. The levels of activation. Provide an example of an emergency and discuss each activation level from the plan as it would relate to events in the emergency you selected. For example, in case of an emergency event like flood, the local emergency management jurisdiction will respond to the situation in carrying out activities like evacuation and resettlement. In case of a severe flood situation the resources of the local government might not be sufficient enough to handle the situation efficiently and the local government might request the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) to respond to the situation. Both the local and state responders remain under the control of the management and supervisors of their parent organizations and some key officials are assigned the responsibility of controlling the situation (The ODFA/CRED International Disaster Database EMDAT, 2005). They work under a direction and control system which provides a means for pursuing requirements of the mission (State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan, February, 2010). When the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) takes the control and command of the situation the responsibilities are described as under: 1. The Governor holds (statutorily and constitutionally) responsibility to meet the needs of the disaster or emergency presented by the people to the state. The governor assumes direct control of the event if the emergency or disaster is beyond the control of local authorities and may delegate powers to any prudent person. 2. The responsibility of the The Director of the Division of Emergency Management includes ensuring the preparedness of the state in dealing with any emergency or disaster (large or small) and to coordinate the response of the state in any emergency or disaster. 3. The State Coordinating Officer (SCO) is authorized by the Governor for managing and coordinating between the response and recovery efforts of the state and the local authorities in handling an emergency. Question 2 Using the emergency you chose in Question 1(d), discuss specific activities within the plan related to the four phases of emergency management: a. Hazard mitigation b. Emergency response c. Disaster recovery d. Emergency preparedness Answer 2 The four phases of emergency management include hazard mitigation, emergency response, disaster recovery and emergency preparedness and in case of the emergency situation of flood the four phases of managing emergency can be described as below: 2.a. Hazard mitigation The efforts of the State of Florida’s mitigation ensure the safety and security of its citizen, visitors and both government and non government organizations (NGOs) from human-induced, technological and natural hazards by reducing vulnerability and risk before the occurrence of the disaster. The mitigation efforts of the state works parallel to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) and works to enhance and maintain the capacity of the state for implementing a comprehensive strategy to reduce loss by the hazard, to support the enhancement and the development of the capacity of the local government, to increase awareness and education about hazard loss in public and private sectors and to reduce vulnerability of hazards in Florida by applying scientific research and development and to reduce the vulnerabilities of infrastructure and facilities owned by the state. In the case of flood, the event requires evacuation and resettlement which are met by the mitigation efforts of the state with the help of facilities, infrastucture and equipment available with them to handle the emergency situation. 2.b. Emergency response Emergency response means the imminent actions required to be taken in the emergency situation and these actions start by informing the key officials about the emergency and warning people about the situation. The next activities require them to activate emergency facilities, to mobilize, deploy and employ equipment, supply and personnel for resolving the hazard situation and to provide emergency assistance to the local victims of the hazard. In the flood situation they need to inform the key officials first and then to evacuate the area with the help of boats and other transport and monitor the flood situation with the help of helicopters and warn the people to be aware about the situation and finally they need to resettle the flood victims. 2.c. Disaster recovery Disaster recovery requires both - short-term and long-term activities. Short-term recovery activities, in case of flood, include restoration of vital services like electricity, transport, water, roads, sewer systems in the affected area and providing emergency services to the victims of the disaster like health care, food, etc. It also requires to restore disaster relief programs for helping the flood victims. Long-term recovery activities, in case of flood, include restoration of normal life in the affected community which includes reconstructing the homes, businesses, roads, schools and other community places and infrastructure. It requires serious and sincere efforts of the all the organizations including the state and the local governments and NGOs for administering the provisions of the federal and state relief funds in order to restore and recover the vital facilities (Disaster Management and Cyclone Warning System in Bangladesh). 2.d. Emergency preparedness Emergency situations cannot be prevented by only mitigation efforts and the prevention can only be ensured by emergency preparedness activities. Emergency preparedness, in case of flood, means the promptness of the governments, residents and visitors in reacting effectively to an emergency. The preparedness activities of the people trapped in a flood situation would need to gather information on threats, to plan for a response to the emergency, to provide training for the preparedness in flood situation, to conduct emergency exercises and drills to test the preparedness, to obtain and maintain emergency facilities and equipment, to make arrangements for the emergency, etc. Question 3 Discuss the scope of operations found in the plan. Identify the most important strength to its operational plan and its greatest weakness. Explain why you chose this strength and weakness supporting your explanation with current research. Answer 3 The concept of operations of the CEMP focuses on providing local, state, and federal assistance to the people who can be the residents or the visitors in the affected area of the State of Florida. The scope of the operations of the plan ensures a comprehensive, unified, expedited and coordinated assistance to the affected people. The scope of operations is crucial and essential for catastrophic major events. The operations of the emergency management of Florida said to have a forward-leaning (push) and proactive methodology which ensures the timely reach of the life – sustaining and life-saving resources to the survivors and pre-positioned responders so that protective “gap-bridging” measures can be provided successfully. The survivability the affected people is ensured by the operations plan of the CEMP by the “push” concept which remains effective till required situational awareness is achieved and validated by the resources deployed in the field. The conventional means which are used to provide resources upon request (pull) are considered after positive confirmation is received that sufficient resources can be located or can be received in the affected areas (Refugees By Number: UNHCR, 2006). The most important strength to its operational plan is the quick reponse by the local authorities with the support of the emergency management of the county and in case of their failure the quick interference of the state emergency management on request which takes control of the situation in handling the situation. Unfortunately, this provision of the operational plan is its strongest weakness also as sometimes the local governments fail in evaluating the impact of the emergency and delay in sending request to the state which delays the activities of the state emergency management which sometimes proved to be vital (Living With Risk: A Global Review of Disaster Reduction Initiatives, 2004). Question 4 Discuss the following: a. What assumptions were built into the plan? b. Why did the planner(s) include them? c. Why are they significant to the success of the plan? Answer 4 4.a. What assumptions were built into the plan? Ans. The assumptions which were built into the plan can be categorized as general assumptions and demographic assumptions: General Assumptions “All emergencies and disasters are local, but local governments may require state assistance. The most effective resources in emergencies and disasters are survivors. They are first on the scene and provide instant assistance to other survivors. There are “notice” and “no-notice” events. Emergencies and disasters will result in one or more of the following: injury and/or loss of life; damage or destruction to public and private property; disruption of utilities (electric, telephone and water) and daily life activities; displacement of persons and families; disruption of local services (sanitation, EMS, fire and police); shortages of temporary or permanent housing; damage or destruction to public and private records; impacts on the environment; and social and economic disruption. Local governments will initiate actions to save lives and protect property. Counties will request mutual aid assistance from other counties through the Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement (SMAA) and will use available resources and mutual aid before requesting state assistance. The state may stage or deploy resources prior to an impact assessment. The State Emergency Operations Center will be activated and staffed by the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) to support local operations. The SERT will utilize all available state resources to mitigate the impact of the emergency or disaster. Evacuation and sheltering may require regional coordination. The SERT will provide assistance to the tribal nations within Florida as requested while respecting the governmental sovereign nation status they hold in the United States. When state resources and capabilities are exhausted, additional resources will be requested in the state, outside of the state and through federal assistance. In a catastrophic event, resource shortfalls at all levels of government may require the federal government to look to other countries for assistance. The need for out-of-area resources will be significant in a catastrophic event, requiring well-defined areas of operation utilizing consistent and standardized language that can be scaled to meet the needs of statewide operations as well as field operations. For catastrophic events, the SERT will proactively “push” resources into the impacted area, as opposed to waiting until the resources are asked for (“pull”). Disability civil rights laws require physical accessibility of shelter facilities, effective communication using multiple methods, full access to emergency services, and modification of programs where needed. In accordance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), evacuation shelters will offer individuals with disabilities the same benefits provided to those without disabilities. This includes safety, comfort, food, medical care, and the support of family and care givers. Planning at the county and state levels will be based on pre-identification of populations and determination of resource shortfalls and contingencies. The counties will identify resources for persons with special needs. The counties will use local registries for persons with special needs to identify needs and plan appropriately. Each state and local agency, eligible private, non-governmental and volunteer organization will document and seek federal and state reimbursement, as appropriate, for expenses incurred during disaster operations. Achieving and maintaining effective community preparedness reduces the immediate demands on response organizations. This level of preparedness requires constant public awareness and education programs to ensure people take appropriate advance actions to reduce their vulnerability during the initial 72 hours following an emergency or disaster. Demographic Assumptions Florida’s population resides in diverse communities across coastal, urban and rural areas. With the exception of Orlando, most of the state’s population is located near the coast. There are other communities that are not fully urbanized, but are emerging as centers of growth, such as Polk County and the cities of Ocala and Tallahassee. Rural Florida consists largely of cattle ranches, farms, pine forests, fishing villages and small towns. Therefore, response, recovery and mitigation activities must be tailored to the type of community impacted by disasters. Florida residents speak numerous languages, including, but not limited to: English, Spanish, French, French Creole, and American Sign Language. The ability to communicate with non-English speaking persons may pose a challenge during disasters. According to a 2008 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau, Florida’s population is 18,328,340, making it the fourth most populated state in the nation. In addition to a tremendous residential population, Florida attracts millions of tourists each year.” (State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan, February, 2010). 4.b. Why did the planner(s) include them? Ans. The planner included them because no any plan can be made without assumptions. 4.c. Why are they significant to the success of the plan? Ans. They are significant to the success of the plan because the plan is based on them as it has been made assuming all possible situations of an emergency. Question 5 Select ONE of these two Emergency Support Functions associated with your plan: Communication or Energy. For this ESF, discuss the following: a. Primary agency and primary responsibilities b. Scope, purpose, or objectives c. Organization and the complications it may present d. Specific actions related to mitigation, response, recovery and preparedness under the ESF e. Strengths and weaknesses (Do not accept the assumption there are none.) Answer 5 Emergency Support Functions: Communications 5.a. Primary agency and primary responsibilities The Department of Management Services provides its services through Communications and Information Technology Services and it is the primary agency for Emergency Support Function 2 and as such it coordinate all activities like administration, planning, training, preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, etc. The primary responsibilities of the Communications and Information Technology Services is coordinating and managing activities of Emergency Support Function 2 with the other organs of the State Emergency Response Team (Mozambique National Report of Disaster Reduction, 2005). 5.b. Scope, purpose, or objectives The purpose of Emergency Support Function 2 (ESF 2) is to provide the provisions of the state for communications support before, during, and after an emergency/disaster situation. Emergency Support Function 2 coordinates communications resources like personnel, services, equipment, etc. from different sources such as county and state agencies, voluntary groups, the telecommunications industry, federal agencies, and the US armed forces, etc. before or after the the State Emergency Operations Center is activated (Appendix II, Emergency Support Function 2- Communications, State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan, February, 2010). 5.c. Organization and the complications it may present Communications and Information Technology Services provide the leadership and management of the Emergency Support Function with the support of the identified supporting agencies which support the Emergency Support Function 2 operations with a subordinate role for supporting. The lack of clear definitions of their roles sometimes creates complications. 5.d. Specific actions related to mitigation, response, recovery and preparedness under the ESF Specific actions related to mitigation, response, recovery and preparedness under the ESF can be described as follows: Preparedness Preparedness includes identification of communications facilities, equipment, and personnel, assessment of the needs and access to them, alertness, assured configuration of War Room, development of scheduling (Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters (HFA), 2005), Response Response includes identification of actual and planned actions and services available, determining available assets, identifying available communications facilities, equipment and personnel in nearest locations, coordination, prioritizing deployment of services, accumulating information of damage, provide specific support and coordinate communications support (Cooperation, World Bank, 2005). Recovery Recovery includes access to state communications assets, planning and preparing notification systems, selecting available resources, evaluating the task, assigning personnel to tasks, preparing and maintaining reports and records, seeking information for detail actions (Sri Lanka: Post-tsunami Recovery Program Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment, 2005). Mitigation It includes providing feedback to Communications and Information Technology Services and others concerned. Communications and Information Technology Services is the primary agency responsible for the State implementation plan for communications services (The constitution of WHO). 5.e. Strengths and weaknesses There are no any assumptions in the plan of the Emergency Support Functions cmmunications and that is weakest part of the plan and the strength of the plan is strong coordination between the ESF 2 and its subordinate agencies. References Appendix II, Emergency Support Function 2- Communications, State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan (February, 2010) State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Basic Plan (February, 2010) Living With Risk: A Global Review of Disaster Reduction Initiatives, (2004) Inter- Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Community Emergency Preparedness: A Manual for Managers and Policy-Makers, (1999) WHO Geneva, ISBN 92 4 154519 4. Mozambique National Report of Disaster Reduction, (2005) Kobe. http://www.unisdr.org/eng/mdgs-drr/national-reports/Mozambique-report.pdf Disaster Management and Cyclone Warning System in Bangladesh. http://www.gfzpotsdam.de/ewc98/abstract/akhand.html 1991 Bangladesh Cyclone- Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Bangladesh_cyclone The ODFA/CRED International Disaster Database EMDAT (2005) www.em-dat.net. Accessed 24 December 2006. Refugees By Number: UNHCR, (2006) http://www.unhcr.org/basics/BASICS/3b028097c.html The constitution of WHO. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hist/official_records/constitution.pdf Sri Lanka: Post-tsunami Recovery Program Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment, (2005) annex 5. Colombo, Sri Lanka, Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, World Bank, (2005). At http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/Tsunami/sri-lanka-tsunami-assessment.pdf. Accessed 24 December 2006. Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters (HFA).(2005) At http://www.unisdr.org/eng/hfa/hfa.htm. Accessed 24 December 2006. Read More