W4: Dealing with Multiple Agencies and Integrating Contingency Planning
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Respond to the following questions:
In the Week 4 Reading Assignment the author(s) identify several “Problems with Past Incidents” – examples of problems that can occur when a well developed plan is not in place.
· Have you ever experienced one of these “problems” on an incident?
· If so, what do you think would have prevented it?
· If you experienced a different, but also significant problem on an incident, discuss it here, including what you think may have prevented it.
· If you have no first-hand experience, talk about an incident you read about or saw on the news that appeared to have similar issues.
· If you use a news article, you must identify the URL at the bottom of your post.
In FEMA Unit 5, the emergency response planning process was discussed.
· What are the 6 steps of this planning process?
Important: Check the Instructions related to the Discussion posts.
Example Below
· Have you ever experienced one of these “problems” on an incident? I have experienced the problem of not following the plan due to lack of resources and lack of plan distribution. I deployed to New Mexico to provide medical care to the Afghani Refugees that were evacuated out of Afghanistan. There were about 5,000 refugees and a few hundred of us. There was a plan in place in case of riots or hostile behavior. There was supposed to be a police presence and when the acts of violence started, there was no security or police personnel at all and none of us knew what the plan was, it was not distributed until after I got home.
· If so, what do you think would have prevented it? It is an easy fix. The people planning this medical event should have distributed plans to us before we got there. They also should have had police on the ground when we arrived or at least some type of security.
· In FEMA Unit 5, the emergency response planning process was discussed.
What are the 6 steps of the planning process:
1. Identifying Participants
The LEPC should include members with diverse experience in the execution of the plan. The group’s collective expertise should include experience in planning; knowledge of the community; experience with the local response forces; and knowledge of hazardous materials, their effects, and appropriate medical treatments.
2. Analyzing Risks
The LEPC reviews and critiques any community plans that may already exist. It then determines the community’s potential hazardous materials risks, primarily through the use of reports submitted by local industries under Title III, but supplemented by analysis of hazardous materials transport and other potential local hazards not addressed by the legislation.
3. Identifying Special Populations and Areas of Concern
The LEPC takes a close look at the community to identify areas that are particularly vulnerable to incidents, and populations that would require special planning to protect or evacuate them in an emergency (such as nursing home residents).
Makeup of a typical Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC).
4. Identifying Available Resources
The LEPC works with local police and fire officials to determine the response capabilities of their departments, then gathers information to understand the incident response role played by surrounding communities and State and Federal government agencies. Capabilities of these secondary sources are then assessed. The Committee then determines the response capabilities of local industry and transporters, specifically those that have the potential to be involved in a hazardous materials incident.
On the basis of this information, the LEPC develops a resource list, detailing where equipment and personnel may be obtained to help with a hazardous materials emergency, and whom to call for assistance. It also designates the specific responsibilities of all resources—police, fire, and other city departments, as well as volunteers and key private sector Local Emergency Planning organizations—in the event of a hazardous materials incident.
5. Drafting the Plan
Draft hazardous materials emergency plan is prepared by the LEPC, reviewed and approved by all parties assigned responsibilities under the plan, and revised to incorporate comments. Finally, the LEPC distributes and explains the plan to key emergency response and government personnel, and periodically updates it to reflect changes within the community or within its local government.
6. Testing the Plan
Once the plan is in place, the community must conduct exercises (simulations of emergency situations) to determine whether responders are prepared to handle their assigned roles, and whether the planned procedures are effective. Exercises provide a means of validating the emergency plan and evaluating training programs used to prepare responders. Ranging in complexity from “tabletop” discussions to the actual deployment of significant resources and personnel (as if in response to an incident), exercises are the best way to find out if the community is ready for a specific type of emergency. Potential problems with plans and procedures are often revealed in the exercise. These problems can then be corrected, leaving the jurisdiction better able to handle an actual emergency.
FEMA. (n.d.). An Introduction to Hazardous Materials. U.S. Department of Homeland Security: FEMA. https://emilms.fema.gov/is_000
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Have you ever experienced one of these “problems” on an incident? I was a Sgt. with FDOC working the night Hurricane Ivan hit the Florida Gulf Coast. We were told to bring food and uniforms and be prepared to stay for 3 shifts. I worked the 3pm to midnight shift, so if need-be I would have been at work for 24 hrs. there where no plans other then that, no calling the next shift workers to advise them to stay home due to flooding in the area, no plans for the convicts and what we were to do with them for their safety. The plans for hurricanes were not followed by the leadership of the Department of Corrections whatso ever. We were told to leave the compound at midnight when the next shift showed up, and where told we don’t have to go home, but we cannot stay on the compound due to overtime issues.
Because these plans were not followed, we had officers who where almost injured attempting to go home, we had dormitories that lost power and had no generator power for hours after losing power, because nobody did any hurricane prep maintenance on the generator, as should have been done weeks or even months prior to the hurricane.
If so, what do you think would have prevented it? Had FDOC leadership used the hurricane emergency plans I think that this whole indecent that happened at the prison, with staffing could have been avoided. Using and following plans that are there for instances like this work when used.
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