RESPONSE

EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN/FOG’S/SOG’S: The Emergency Operations Plan provides the basis for response and short-term recovery operations. The response activities take place initially and are designed to save lives, reduce suffering, protect property and the environment. The short-term recovery activities follow the response activities and are designed to stabilize the situation and set the stage for re-entry and recovery. National Incident Management System (NIMS) doctrine states that the Incident Command System (ICS) is to be used to establish command and control for the response at the scene of all incidents. The EOP is the guide as to how the local response to an incident will be managed. It is appropriate that an organization utilize an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) or a Multi-agency Coordination System depending on the size and complexity of the event to manage the incident. The EOP should pre-designate which organization is assigned which responsibilities and what organization should provide representatives to the EOC or the Multi-agency Coordination System.

The EM Associates/EM Assist, NIMS compliant, EOP methodology for EOP revision begins with complete compliance of baseline federal/state/local guidance related to EOPs.  This guidance includes:

• The National Response Framework, which provides the guiding principles that enable all response partners to prepare for and provide a unified response to disasters and emergencies – from the smallest incident to the largest catastrophe. The Framework establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to incident response.
   
• The State Emergency Operations Plan that adheres to the format and structure of the National Response Plan that contains Emergency Support Functional (ESF) Annexes and Incident Specific Annexes.  The Incident Specific Annexes describe the concept of operations that address specific contingency or hazard situations or an element of an incident requiring specialized application of the Framework.
   
• The County’s Emergency Operations Plan defines the policies and guidelines for a County’s response and short-term recovery and identifies the responsibilities to prepare for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from threats the jurisdiction faces. The EOP also identifies the EOC, the concept of operations, and the NIMS/ICS based command and control structure when the EOC is activated as part of a Multi-agency Coordination System. The EOC supports and coordinates the field operations based on NIMS/ICS and the EOP describes how the ESF’s support that system.
   
• Functional Annexes in either Federal ESF format or the traditional SLG-101 format, identify concepts of operations, responsible agencies, and describe missions or responsibilities that apply to various areas of hazard response and recovery (i.e., transportation, law enforcement, public warning, mass care, etc.). When applicable, functional annexes describe the role of various support agencies in support of the lead agency representative(s) staffing the EOC.
   
• Hazard-specific Annexes describe concepts of operation for specific hazards. They identify strategies for detecting, assessing, controlling the hazard, warning and protecting the public and returning the jurisdiction to a state of normalcy. Hazard-specific annexes identify mission considerations that will require coordination through the EOC and the functional disciplines involved. They also identify potential State and Federal resources that may be needed should the hazard exceed the local capabilities.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE (CRISIS) PLAN/SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN: In the last decade, disasters have affected university and college campuses with disturbing frequency, sometimes causing death and injury, but always imposing monetary losses and disruption of the institution’s teaching, research, and public service. Damage to buildings and infrastructure and interruption to the institutional mission result in significant losses that can be measured by faculty and student departures, decreases in research funding, and increases in insurance premiums. These losses could have been substantially reduced or eliminated through comprehensive pre-disaster planning and mitigation actions. September 11, 2001 reminded everyone of the importance of taking steps to mitigate the consequences of disasters. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, many higher education institutions reviewed their disaster plans and began to reconsider issues of safety and security. Natural and man-made disasters represent a wide array of threats to the instructional, research, and public service missions of higher education institutions. This document provides planning guidance to these institutions as they prepare to identify their risks, assess their vulnerability to natural and man-made hazards, and develop a hazard mitigation plan. Its purposes are to encourage higher education institutions to take hazard mitigation seriously and to illustrate a course of action for implementing a mitigation program to permanently reduce vulnerability to future disasters.

EM Associates designs, develops and delivers a comprehensive School, College, or University Emergency Response Plan based on the FEMA “Disaster Resistant University Guide” and the FEMA “How To” guides. The EM Associates methodology closely follows a state or county Emergency Operations Plan development process and fully complies to NFPA-1600/NIMS standards.

HOSPITAL COMPREHENSIVE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) requires each Medical Center and Community Based Outpatient Clinic develop a comprehensive Emergency Management Program (EMP) to minimize any disruptions to patient care activities caused by threats and events. New JCAHO Emergency Management Standards and the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001 require that we review and ensure an "all-hazards" approach to emergency management.

The EMP should meet or exceed JCAHO mandated Emergency Management Standards. These standards need to be incorporated into a specific program suitable for each Medical Center. As outlined below, it is possible that multiple failures could occur, each requiring a different response. Internal problems as well as concurrent external failures are conceivable and require proactive and extensive planning and preparation.

EM Associates provides a proven process for a medical facility CEMP.  The development of the plan includes a comprehensive analysis of community hazards and both the communities and the medical facility’s risk and vulnerability to those hazards.  This process supports hospitals and other healthcare organizations that are adopting National Incident Management System (NIMS) throughout their organization. Hospital and healthcare systems are required to implement NIMS through a phased in approach outlined in the cooperative agreement guidance issued by the National Bio-terrorism Hospital Preparedness Program (NBHPP).

EM Associates provides a methodology that closely follows the Emergency Operations Plan process for states and counties. EM Associates delivers a fully functional EMP and contains extensive examples of plans, policies, contingencies and solutions for problems that every Medical Center may face. The plan will be fully compliant with JCAHO and HICS standards. NFPA-1600 and NIMS standards will be referenced and used to complement JCAHO and HICS.