Disaster City Preparedness Building readiness in the community Peggy Gutierrez EADP 3035 November 28, 2012 Introduction As the new Preparedness Coordinator for the fictitious Disaster City Office of Emergency Management (DC OEM), I will work with the emergency management coordinator (EMC) and local authorities to implement a community wide emergency preparedness program that will serve to establish and enhance readiness. The main goal would be to prevent loss of life and property and to coordinate responses. I would begin by reviewing hazard analyses and risk assessments, then incorporate an all hazard approach containing some hazard specific profiles and protections for the varied local populations. I would seek to involve established authorities, citizens and other local stakeholders as well as the surrounding jurisdictions. The types of preparedness activities I will include are multi-agency coordination, educating the public on risk and readiness and enlisting ongoing support from stakeholders. In order for Disaster City and the surrounding communities to be better prepared for emergencies, I will ensure that a good Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) is known, maintained and practiced routinely. What type of Approach will I use? For the purposes of this essay, I will assume that DC OEM has already done some hazard analysis and risk assessments for the city. For Disaster City, an all hazards approach to emergency preparedness is necessary. I would want to review and critique the gathered data to ensure it’s sufficient. Does it assess potential technological hazards at the airport, the freeways, the railways, and the manufacturers? What types of chemicals are made or shipped in the area? Are there meteorological and hydrological risk assessments; especially flood history for the area because of the nearby river. I would seek to ensure local building codes up to date for the safety 1 of residents (McEntire & Myers, 2004.) I would make sure to consider the needs of various special populations in the area, such as any persons with disabilities, the elderly, commuters, university students, and non-English speaking community members. I will use demographic and geographic maps to determine certain vulnerabilities. I want to find out what types of effective warning systems are already in place and gain support if enhancements are needed. I will conduct surveys to determine the local risk perceptions and likely emergency behaviors (Lindell & Perry, 2011.) Finally, in order to be mindful of all hazards, I would assess the terrorism risk if it had not been done already. Sharing the findings with the surrounding jurisdictions, and inviting them to give feedback will be important at this early stage in order to know what preparedness actions I will need to implement, as well as to gain their support later. When the reviews are done, I can begin to make recommendations, enlist support, and formulate my preparedness plans for the community. My plans will include a cycle of education, training and practicing. Preparedness must be an ongoing effort involving everyone. Who will I seek to involve? Team effort, as well as resource and information sharing are essential to carry out the many activities involved in community wide preparedness. I would recruit planning team members from the staffs and workforces of local authorities, citizens and other stakeholders, like business owners, large employers, and emergency responders. Since the surrounding jurisdictions are small in size and population, I would encourage them (including the business communities in each) to participate in all preparedness activities, in return for cooperation and benefits. I will 2 convince them that they have an interest in the planning activities because they want their citizens, constituents, employees, patients or customers to be prepared, safe and resilient in the face of emergencies. A first important step will be to establish city ordinances regarding the creation and evaluation of emergency preparedness plans, plan renewal requirements, training mandates, and mutual aid agreements. Passing laws about preparedness is a good way to let the community know that the leadership is serious about its citizens’ safety, and it builds confidence within the community. Enlisting help in applying for grant funding will be an important endeavor of the local government as well (McEntire & Myers, 2004.) Establishing emergency roles and responsibilities for managers and responders, as well as identifying facilities and locations to use during emergency operations are all steps that mean willing cooperation from a wide variety of local stakeholders. Where will shelters be located if needed? When and how will evacuations take place if needed? How much money will be set aside for emergencies, and what will be the criteria for accessing the funds? Many stakeholders must weigh these considerations. It will take time to come to consensus, but when these decisions are made, the information must be made public to avoid redundant efforts, confusion or wrong expectations by citizens or agencies. What activities will I plan? While the city officials are working through legal and governmental details, I would coordinate more hands on efforts. I would act as a hub of information and liaison between agencies and jurisdictions so that efforts are not redundant. Less experienced agencies can learn from more advanced and prepared ones and resources such as personnel, expertise and equipment can be 3 inventoried and possibly shared (Perry & Lindell, 2003.) Other activities I would initiate are things like recruiting planning committee members, finding volunteers to host preparedness fairs and give presentations at civic centers, libraries and schools. I’d find creative ways to gain the interest of the public, for instance, I create a poster or ad contest within the community and offer a prize. I’d make use of existing social media for emergency alerts, events, surveys and other aspects of involvement (Merchant, et al, 2011.) Another way to create interest is to utilize the city’s web site. I would provide links on the site to online trainings such as FEMA Independent Study, ready.gov and other programs. I’d offer a training and events calendar on the site for routine or special trainings hosted by DC OEM. I would work with local response practitioners such as CERT, Red Cross or the hospital or fire department to create or modify existing trainings that could be used for ordinary citizens and business owners. I’d want to offer different levels such as tabletops, functional and full-scale exercises using common language and factors like ICS and HICS (Chau, 2012.) Mechanisms for feedback will be used to evaluate and identify improvements after each of the trainings. These can fulfill requirements for funding and bring a sense of commitment to preparedness. All of these preparedness activities will be ongoing, creating visibility and trust in the local OEM while creating readiness in the local community. Is the community prepared for disaster? After a period of coordinated efforts that it takes to create and maintain a sufficient EOP, I believe that the community will be capable of dealing effectively with disaster when it strikes. Myths must be dispelled in exchange for knowledge and citizens must be reminded to avoid complacency. Having plans in place or on paper does not equate to readiness. Plans must be tried, evaluated and regularly revised to meet changing needs or recognized deficiencies (FEMA, 1996.) Flexibility in 4 methods used is important as long as the existing methods are understood. Flexibility will add to an overall confident and resilient mindset in the community. As the preparedness coordinator, I will build readiness among the local stakeholders and citizens by making disaster awareness commonplace and providing a variety of training regularly. With agencies and jurisdictions having their own hazard specific EOP annexes, and all agencies being made aware of each other’s procedures, I can work towards effective, coordinated responses to disaster. Overlap in procedures will allow for more coordination and resource sharing, which can potentially save time and money. Conclusion Community wide knowledge and creation of emergency operations plans is important to prepare the Disaster City citizens and surrounding jurisdictions. Routine meetings and a variety of exercises practiced among agencies will also be vital to overall disaster readiness. As the preparedness coordinator, it is my job to make these things happen. Getting people, activities, and programs moving towards readiness will be my ongoing endeavor. 5 References: Chau H. Vu, 2012 Lessons Learned in Emergency Preparedness David A. McEntire and Amy Myers, 2004 Preparing communities for disasters: issues and processes for government readiness. Ronald W. Perry and Michael K. Lindell, 2003 Preparedness for Emergency Response: Guidelines for the Emergency Planning Process FEMA Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning, State and Local Guide (SLG) 101, 1996 Raina Merchant, Stacy Elmer, and Nicole Lurie, 2011 Integrating Social Media into Emergency-Preparedness Efforts. 6