Comprehensive Emergency Management for Local Governments:

Demystifying Emergency Planning

James A. Gordon

• Publisher: Rothstein Publishing
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781931332170
• eBook ISBN: 9781931332910
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Assurance

This "how to" guide shows small to mid-sized local governments, whether in urban or regional settings, how to develop comprehensive emergency management plans with minimal expenditure of resources. Its modular, step-by-step approach also makes it an effective guide for non-experts and those interested in self-study. The book covers both preparedness planning and actual emergency management and includes these helpful features:
Uses a modular approach to developing written plans, starting with the Preparedness Plan at the federal, provincial/state levels. At its core is the Emergency Management Plan, which is essentially the establishment and operation of the Emergency Operations Center that is central to any emergency. Instructions also cover other common plans: 1) Emergency Social Services 2) Emergency Public Information 3) Emergency Telecommunications 4) Evacuation 5) Hazard-Specific 6) Mutual Aid Agreements
Takes novice emergency planners step-by-step through the four complete processes of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery for natural and human-made disasters.
Gives tips for a staff training matrix and for developing a timetable of graduated exercises to test the written plan.
Includes checklists, summaries, plan outlines, glossary, appendices that list online resources, and suggestions for career and professional development.

1

LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY PLANNING

Prior to undertaking the emergency planning exercise, an understanding of the basic concepts behind local government emergency planning must be gained. The generic planning process, Concept of Operation and the four phases of Comprehensive Emergency Management will be introduced. Finally, the ability to see the local emergency plan in the larger regional/county/state/province context will complete an exposure to the nature of local government emergency planning.

BASIC CONCEPTS AND CRITICAL ELEMENTS

When an emergency occurs, the local government is usually the first to become aware of it and often mounts the first attempt to deal with it. Most provinces and states view local government as the “first line of response” in emergency situations with provincial or state resources only being dedicated to the effort when local resources are no longer capable of addressing the scale of the emergency.

In light of this view, it is prudent management for the local government to have a practical, workable, thorough, known and understood Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. In deed, in some provinces and states it is mandatory that local governments have emergency plans to ensure that the initial local effort is a planned and realistic response.

It is an unrealistic position for a local government to assume either emergencies of an escalating or unmanageable scale will not happen within one’s boundaries or that county, state or provincial resources will be used in an initial response (unless previously contracted to do so). Thus, a discussion of the peculiarities of emergency planning at the local level is in order.

LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENT

While an emergency plan is prudent management on the part of local governments, for it to be meaningful local governments must have access to, or be empowered with, special powers when an emergency is declared. Such powers typically include the ability to expend funds without the standard checks of routine expenditures, the ability to commandeer equipment and resources and the ability to restrict the movement of its residents or to order evacuations.

Such powers are not, and indeed should not be, entrusted to local governments on a permanent, on-going basis. These powers are usually invoked when a state of local emergency is declared. Powers at the provincial or state level, usually resting with the Attorney General, can be delegated to the local government when a state of local emergency has been declared by following a specified procedure. This procedure is usually the final and ultimate phase of executing the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan. A requirement for a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan forces local governments to confront and accept certain risks and hazards, to assess the threat and plan accordingly, usually enabling local governments to deal with the majority of eventualities.

In British Columbia, for example, the 1996 Emergency Program Act specifically requires all local governments to prepare municipal emergency plans. This Act provides for the local government to declare a state of local emergency after meeting specific criteria at which time substantial powers of the Attorney General transfer to the local government. Such responsibility is not to be taken lightly and when this measure is exercised, very close oversight is exercised by the Attorney General’s office.

Local governments must research and understand the basic enabling legislation in their province, state or country. This not only provides the source of extraordinary powers and the criteria for their use, but also allows the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan to be placed in the proper regional context so that local governments know what is expected of them should an emergency arise.

SENIOR LEVEL ENDORSEMENT

Meaningful and effective emergency plans at the local government level require the endorsement and active support at the most senior levels of municipal management. This will help in ensuring that senior managers understand their role in the plan, that staff support will occur throughout the organization and that sufficient funding and resources are made available.

The initial approach must be made to Council who must have their responsibility for public safety and preparedness impressed upon them. In some cases elected officials initiate the planning process after a poorly anticipated or responded to emergency, or information sessions by provincial or state officials. Council can make emergency planning a priority until a satisfactory plan is in place. With this support it will be easier to convince senior mangers to devote some time to participating in the planning process and making time for the necessary exercises.

A local government emergency plan is the tool senior managers will rely on for rapid coordination and decision-making in the event of an extraordinary situation. It is in their best interest to actively participate and this challenge falls to the Emergency Program Coordinator, for without this support the plan is all but useless. Participation in its development, a comprehensive understanding of the entire scope of the plan and periodic exercises to ensure some degree of retention are critical aspects. With the support of this group, it behoves the Emergency Program Coordinator to fully capitalize on it with a comprehensive planning process. This planning process will be investigated in detail.

AUTHORITY

The legislative requirement for local governments to have emergency plans must be translated through the means by which local governments operate. Specifically, in Canadian provinces this is a bylaw and, in the United States, it is an ordinance.

The purpose of a bylaw or ordinance is to put in place the formal direction the local government Council chooses to embark upon with the establishment of a municipal emergency program. It provides for the governance and oversight of the emergency program, the establishment of a position to coordinate or manage the program, the scope of the planning endeavour and any annual reporting requirements. This then provides the authority for the Emergency Program Coordinator to devote the necessary resources toward the objective of putting in place a workable and effective emergency plan. It also provides for certain critical aspects of the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan such as the authorization for invoking the plan, a line of succession for the role of Emergency Program Coordinator, the role of Council, and the expected interaction between the Coordinator, the Emergency Program Planning Committee and elected officials.

Further, the bylaw or ordinance serves the legal function of demonstrating the local government’s intent to fulfil the legislative requirement placed upon it. As well it reflects the extent of preparedness the local government is willing to go to as determined by the Council representing the community’s residents.

WHO DOES THE PLANNING?

The instrument establishing local authority and direction for Comprehensive Emergency Management, specifically a bylaw or ordinance, should provide for two critical aspects of the local emergency program: an Emergency Program Planning Committee and an Emergency Program Coordinator.

EMERGENCY PROGRAM PLANNING LANNING COMMITTEE

The Emergency Program Planning Committee is the administrative body responsible for the preparation of the municipal emergency plan and subsequent reviews and amendments as necessary. It is a standing committee which is usually comprised of the following persons:

•a member of council

•municipal Chief Administrative Officer

•Emergency Program Coordinator

•Fire Chief

•Police Chief

•Chief Medical Officer or hospital/ambulance representative

•municipal Public Works Manager

•Emergency Social Services Director

•municipal Telecommunications Coordinator

Other representatives may be added as necessary in order to achieve the general planning goals of the committee or a specific planning objective. Sub-committees may be formed to develop hazard-specific preparedness plans which may include specific experts not listed here such as utility, transportation and industry representatives.

Its primary function is to provide guidance to the Coordinator. While the Coordinator facilitates the wishes of the Committee, the Committee in turn sets the direction of the program which the Coordinator, as the dedicated resource on either a full-time or part-time basis, researches, writes and executes. The Committee should also be charged with control over the emergency program budget to ensure its planning direction and initiatives coordinate with fiscal resources.

In addition to ensuring that a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan is in place, the Committee is responsible for ensuring an active program of hazard analysis, equipment procurement, personnel training and various types of exercises are planned for and executed. In order to achieve these goals, the Committee would be expected to meet frequently enough to monitor the progress of instructions and directions given to the Coordinator. During the normal course of its duties this may be monthly. In initial phases where intense work is occurring on the basic plan, meetings would most likely be more frequent. After that the meetings would be such that they reflected the level of activity directed at the Coordinator.

Also, an annual report should be submitted to Council by the Committee, if not required in the authorizing bylaw or ordinance, summarizing the year’s activities and the state of preparedness. The state of preparedness will reflect mitigation efforts as well as those in actual preparedness and recovery planning.

Finally, it is worth noting that the Emergency Program Planning Committee does not have an operational role when an emergency does occur. By definition, its function is in planning to ensure readiness for an emergency. When one occurs those members will be busy in their primary roles as Fire Chief or Police Chief, for example, thus making it impossible, not to mention unnecessary, for the Emergency Program Planning Committee to meet.

ROLE OF THE EMERGENCY PROGRAM COORDINATOR

The role of the Emergency Program Coordinator is unique and one worth exploring. The Coordinator has two roles divided by the planning process and the response role.

In the planning process, the Coordinator works for the Emergency Program Planning Committee facilitating its meetings, either directly or through an elected or appointed chairman, and acts as the technical expert and advisor. The Committee retains overall directional-setting and decision-making power while the Coordinator retains a high level of discretion within that overall direction. It must be a close and efficacious relationship as it is the Coordinator who implements and executes the wishes of the planning committee. The Coordinator conducts or coordinates the research and compilation of supporting information required by the Committee and supervises any outside contractors necessary. The Coordinator is expected to report to the Committee on an ongoing basis, the frequency of which will be determined by importance and scope of the particular task delegated to him/her.

Further, the Coordinator is expected to operate within the budgetary constraints placed by the Committee. The Committee should be granted certain funds by the municipal Council to achieve its mandate. The Committee is responsible for operating within these limits and it is generally the Coordinator who drafts the budget for the Committee’s ratification. The Coordinator reports on the progress of the planning initiatives of the Committee and how this is reflected in budgetary expenditures.

The second role of the Emergency Program Coordinator is in the response phase during an emergency. The Coordinator is responsible for executing the emergency plans put in place by the planning committee. When the call is made to implement the plan, i.e., there is a need for a coordinated response to a significant emergency and the important decision makers are needed in one place, it is the Coordinator who will gather the required participants. Once those required have gathered in the Emergency Operations Center, the Coordinator then acts as an expert advisor to this group. It is the muni...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Local Government Emergency Planning: Basic Concepts and Critical Elements
• 2 Mitigation: Lessening the Impact
• 3 Preparedness: Preparedness Plans at the Federal and Provincial/State Level
• 4 Response
• 5 Recovery
• 6 Putting it all Together
• Appendix A: Sample Planning Outline
• Appendix B: Sample Service Impact Analysis Documents
• Appendix C: Sample Training Matrix
• Appendix D: The Professional Emergency Manager
• Appendix E: Emergency Management Resources
• References
• Glossary
• Index
• About The Author
• About The Publisher