59

L O C A L G O V E R N M E N T

Integrating Emergency and Disaster Planning

A critical point that is often over-

looked in emergency management

is that an emergency does not

begin or end with the incident

itself. How a community responds

and recovers from a disaster

depends on proper planning,

preparation, and integration of all

facets of government and of emer-

gency response into our emergency

operations plans (EOPs).

When we think of how a city might

respond to an emergency, we often

focus on firefighters, medics, and

police. They are all an important

part of emergency response, but

they are only a part. Just as criti-

cal are public works, community

services, finance, and administra-

tion. An integrated plan must

include all aspects of government

and how those aspects interrelate.

As we saw with Hurricane Katrina,

the disaster itself is only a small

part of an emergency. The logistics

of how you evacuate citizens, how

you support their needs, and how

you keep track of those citizens

and their needs are critical. How

services are restored, temporary

shelter is supplied, and everything

is funded must be planned for. An

integrated plan must also include

citizen preparedness, continuity of

government (COG), and continuity

of operations (COOP). It should be

coordinated with other local plans

as well as with regional and state

plans. It should encompass part-

nering with nongovernmental

agencies (NGOs) and preposi-

tioned contracts. It must consider

planning for citizens and animals.

It must embrace public facilities,

critical records, and possible relo-

cation. It is also critical that in

developing this plan, elected offi-

cials have a clear understanding of

how all the parts fit together.

Elected officials, especially those

from small communities (where

they are often employed part–

time), have myriad issues to face

every day. But one fact remains:

during a disaster, who are the citi-

zens going to look to for answers?

It is the duty of elected officials to

have a clear understanding of how

the community will respond. It is

also critical to understand the

process that emergency operations

plans present in order to work

smoothly with the EOP and not

create additional problems.

During a disaster, we elected offi-

cials still have a critical role to

play, but we are not necessarily

going to be the ones in charge.

Emergency management is not an

area where we can afford to let

egos get in the way.

A valuable resource we all have in

our communities is citizens who

want to help. However, if untrained,

these well-meaning citizens can

compound problems and make an

emergency even more critical and

dangerous. Rather than take a pass

on using these volunteers, offering

citizen-based training should be a

focus in the preparation portion of a

plan. Community Emergency Re-

sponse Training (CERT), Map your

Neighborhood (MYN), neighborhood

emergency teams, and many other

national, state, and local programs

around this country all help train

citizens to be a valuable resource.

Most important, this training also

educates citizens to be better pre-

pared, lessening their demands on

a local response. By incorporating

these citizen programs into our inte-

grated emergency plans, we will

already know how these resources

can be used and deployed. With

additional training, many of these

citizens can play key roles in the

mitigation, recovery, and restoration

portions of your plan.

B Y R I C H A R D H I L D R E T H

© 2008 Wi ley Per iodicals , Inc .Publ ished onl ine in Wi ley InterScience (www.interscience.wi ley.com)

Nat ional Civ ic Review • DOI : 10.1002/ncr.196 • Winter 2007

60

The Incident Command System

(ICS) must be the unifying thread

throughout your emergency plan-

ning. From how citizens are used

during the phases of an emergency

to restoring normal activities, ICS

plays a key role in coordination of

efforts. The ICS is the foundation

for an effective all-risk emergency

planning and response capability

to any critical incident and may be

expanded or contracted as re-

quired to meet the needs of any

situation, regardless of the magni-

tude of the disaster. It fosters con-

sistency in how team members

and agencies function in an emer-

gency. In layman’s terms, it places

everyone on the same page. ICS

also contributes common terminol-

ogy, modular organization, inte-

grated communications, manage-

able span of control, and manage-

ment of resources. ICS has five

main areas that are expanded or

contracted as needed: command,

operations, logistics, planning,

and finance and administra-

tion. As the core of an integrated

emergency plan, ICS promotes

smoother operations when an

emergency or disaster occurs.

Many EOPs are already “all-risk

and hazards.” So I will not go into

detail here, other than to point out

that as with a number of types of

emergency, the recovery and

restoration portions of your plan

must be flexible and adaptable to

meet the needs of the emergency

you are facing. Each community

should conduct a risk assessment

to see what hazards are likely and

how those hazards might cascade

into larger events.

Following hurricanes Katrina and

Rita, the federal government

issued a requirement that all juris-

dictions include provisions for ani-

mals and livestock in their

emergency plans. During Katrina,

many victims refused to evacuate

without their pets and later suf-

fered additional problems as flood

waters rose. For health and safety

reasons, shelters barred admission

of animals and even limited the

access of service animals. This

often had a profound impact on

the emotional well-being of sur-

vivors of a disaster. Reasonable

accommodations should be in-

cluded in any emergency plan.

Because 60 percent of pet owners

consider their cat or dog to be part

of the family, exclusion of that ani-

mal could almost be as traumatic

as loss of a child. Would you

endorse a disaster plan that in-

cluded leaving a child to fend for

herself in a flood?

If your community was hit with a

massive flood and you had to relo-

cate city hall, what would your

plans be for records retention and

COOP? Do you have a written COG

plan that includes prepared letters

of succession and adopted policies

and procedures? Who issues the

declaration of emergency and acti-

vates the EOP? All of these issues

must be addressed.

Finally, in a fully integrated EOP

all four facets of emergency man-

agement are considered. In the

planning facet, you need to take a

realistic look at what assets you

have, how to better develop those

assets, and how they might be

used during an emergency. In the

response facet, it is critical that

everyone understand the EOP and

their role in it. Everyone must be

working out of the same playbook.

In the recovery facet, who per-

forms which tasks, and should you

look at using prepositioned con-

tracts to provide some services?

Does your plan address language

National Civ ic Review DOI : 10.1002/ncr Winter 2007

Just as critical as firefight-ers, medics, and police inemergency response arepublic works, communityservices, finance, andadministration. An inte-grated plan must includeall aspects of governmentand how those aspectsinterrelate.

61

to avoid conflict with labor agree-

ments? How can we incorporate

planning for disasters into the mit-

igation of risk facet and build more

disaster-resistant communities?

With today’s political realities, it is

critical that proper planning for

emergencies be done. Luckily, we

also have myriad resources avail-

able, including grants and training

through FEMA and DHS. Many

states have additional resources

such as risk assessment and tem-

plates of emergency operations

plans. It is up to us as leaders in

our communities to bring these

resources together. This is how we

can impart leadership for disaster

recovery.

Richard Hildreth is mayor of Pacific,Washington, and an instructor in citi-zen-based emergency preparation andeducation programs.

National Civ ic Review DOI : 10.1002/ncr Winter 2007