STANDARD SIX

INTANGIBLE COMPONENTS OF EMERGENCY READINESS:
ABILITY TO EXECUTE EMERGENCY PLANS

DISCUSSION

Local emergency readiness is the ability actually to conduct coordinated operations in extraordinary emergencies, making maximum use both of existing governmental forces and resources and of non-governmental groups (doctors, hospitals, news media), that have emergency capabilities. Emphasis is on tying together, and making operationally effective, local capabilities in the areas of facilities and equipment and of trained manpower. This means the ability to execute emergency plans. This Standard establishes criteria for evaluating the ability of local governments to conduct such coordinated emergency operations.

 

Evaluating Local Ability to Execute Plans

The major responsibility in executing emergency plans is upon key local officials, to direct and control coordinated lifesaving operations in emergencies of any type. This requires not merely plans reflecting the local organization for emergencies, but workable plans that have been exercised by the responsible officials under actual or simulated emergency conditions. A vital element of local ability, to conduct coordinated operations is workable EOC internal procedures, that have been practiced by the entire EOC staff. This includes the disaster analysis group, communicators, map plotters, and others who make the EOC work, in addition to the decision-making team comprised of the key executives.

Local readiness for emergencies, to assure that all forces with lifesaving capability would actually "do the right things at the right time," is built by a repetitive cycle of planning, exercising, planning, and so on. The local ability to conduct coordinated emergency operations can always be improved, and the level of a given locality's readiness must necessarily be evaluated on the basis of judgment. Criteria for making these judgments are outlined below.

The most important judgment is that of the local chief executive and his department heads, as these are the people responsible to conduct coordinated operations in an emergency. To what degree do they feel that their community has developed the "mechanics of coordinated disaster response"?

The role of the local civil preparedness Director/Coordinator is to supply a professional judgment on the locality's ability to conduct coordinated operations, on which "mechanics" need improvement, and on how to make these improvements. Personnel from the State and the Region can also help in making advisory evaluations.

STANDARDS

1. Fully-Qualified Readiness Standard

To be evaluated as fully-qualified in the area of ability to execute emergency plans, a community must have developed and trained the entire local emergency organization, including but not limited to the EOC staff to the point where there is high confidence of its ability to (a) conduct effective coordinated operations within its own jurisdiction; and (b) coordinate operations effectively with other jurisdictions and other levels of government.

That the jurisdiction has attained the fully-qualified level of readiness may be demonstrated by (a) successful operations in a major peacetime disaster or emergency, that seriously affected the jurisdiction and required coordinated operations controlled from the local EOC, and that also required extensive coordination and operations with other levels of government; OR (b) successful participation in emergency exercising as follows:

a. Total-System Exercises-These are locally- tailored exercises involving all key local officials, and EOC and other personnel, and two or more such exercises shall have been held- Total-system exercises are appropriate and useful only when the community has developed its emergency procedures and organization to the point where all elements can be exercised and tested together. Total-system exercises are designed and conducted to meet the following objectives:

(1) Exercising the making of coordinated responses and assignment of resources under simulated peacetime disaster or attack conditions (a fallout-only or a fallout-blast-fire situation, as appropriate in the locality). whether based on a peacetime or attack-caused disaster scenario, the exercise shall include problems for all elements of the local emergency organization, requiring maximum use of existing local capabilities. Half or more of the problems shall be such as to require operational coordination between at least two services. The exercise shall be tailored to the jurisdiction's actual organization and EOC and other procedures.

(2) Exercising decision-making and operations involving all elements of the local emergency organization. This shall involve the entire EOC staff. In addition, it is strongly recommended that all other key elements of the local emergency organization be involved to the maximum extent possible (e.g., selected police and fire units, radiological monitors, shelter managers, Shelter Complex Headquarters staffs, communications personnel,' hospital administrators and staffs, welfare group directors, news media personnel, and others with emergency assignments outside of the EOC). Hospital disaster plans can be exercised in conjunction with the exercise involving other elements of the jurisdiction's emergency organization. In cases where it is not possible to involve the majority of the organization outside the EOC, simulation techniques may be used to represent such groups. However, any capability or organization simulated must actually exist, and evaluators must have reasonable confidence that such group could actually have carried out the functions that were represented by simulation in the exercise. (E.g., if the radiological monitoring organization is simulated, it must be an actual capability even if radiological monitors were not physically located at monitoring stations of in shelters during the exercise. Confidence that the RM organization could actually have carried out the functions simulated shall be based on previous sub-system exercises or training involving the RN organization.) Thus, total-system exercises differ from many of the Emergency Operations Simulation (EOS) exercises that localities have had in that EOS's often simulate emergency organizations and capabilities that do not exist, or are not fully ready to operate.

(3) Identifying additional training needed. Total-system exercises are designed and conducted to identify any additional training needed by elements of the local emergency organization (e.g., radiological monitors, regular police and fire units, Shelter Complex Headquarters, etc.). Such additional training shall have been conducted following the first and subsequent total-system exercises.

(4) Identifying further modifications or improvements needed in local plans or procedures (including internal EOC procedures). Such modifications or improvements shall have been made following the first and subsequent total system exercises.

b. Ability to Design and Conduct Own Exercises -To be evaluated as fully-qualified, the jurisdiction shall have developed the capability to design and conduct its own exercises with minimal State or Regional support, and have conducted local exercising at least once annually. It is strongly recommended that after the first two or three total-system exercises, the jurisdiction con- duct a surprise exercise, with knowledge of the time and content limited to the chief executive and local civil preparedness Director/Coordinator.

c. Lateral and Multi-Level Coordination-To be evaluated as fully-qualified, the jurisdiction shall have demonstrated a capability for lateral and multi-level operations and coordination, in addition to operations and coordination needed within it’s own boundaries and relating to its own emergency forces. Means for developing and demonstrating this capability may include: (1) Two-community total-system exercises (e.g., involving use of mutual-assistance plans that were jointly developed); (2) local to next higher EOC exercise (e.g., city-county, or county State Area, using reporting systems specified by the State); or (3) local-State-Regional (or local-State-Regional- National) exercises, such as the "CDEX" exercises.

Exercises that emphasize multi-jurisdiction or multilevel coordination are designed with some or all of these purposes in view: (1) Making joint, coordinated responses to simulated peacetime or attack;caused emergencies; (2) exercising mutual- assistance plans or agreements between jurisdictions; (3) exercising procedures for military sup- port of civil governments in civil preparedness emergencies; or (4) meeting the information needs of other echelons (e.g., by emergency reporting).

It is strongly recommended that exercises be designed and conducted that cover both intra- jurisdiction and multi-level operations simultaneously (e.g., local total-system exercises, as de- scribed in paragraph la, that are related to and conducted simultaneously with CDEX-type exercises). Regions and States can assist local Directors/Coordinators in the preparation of such exercises.

2. Minimum-Level Readiness Standard

To be evaluated as meeting the minimum-level standard in the area of ability to execute emergency plans, a community must have developed and trained the local emergency organization, including but not limited to EOC staff, to the point where there is reasonable confidence that the jurisdiction could conduct coordinated operations effectively in an emergency. The jurisdiction need not have conducted total-system exercises as described in paragraph 1a, and it need not have conducted exercises or operations with other jurisdictions or other levels of government.

That the jurisdiction has attained the minimum-level readiness standard may be demonstrated by (a) successful operations in a peacetime emergency that required coordinated operations controlled from the local EOC; OR (b) a sequence of exercising, planning, and training activities generally equivalent in terms of overall results to the consecutive steps outlined below:

a. Demonstration of Need for Coordinated Operations-The jurisdiction has participated in activities that have demonstrated to local officials the need for coordinated operations in major emergencies, including the need for interdepartmental planning to establish the emergency organization and assign missions. (See Standard Three.) Means to demonstrate these needs to local officials include films, conferences, and seminars, but the means that is often most effective is the conduct of an Emergency Operations Simulation (EOS) exercise, available through the State training program or Regional support contracts. An EOS demonstrates to local officials one system for exercising centralized direction and control to deal with the effects of a peacetime or attack emergency.

b. Development of Locally-Tailored Emergency Plans and EOC Procedures-The jurisdiction has developed its own, locally-tailored emergency contingency plans (including local emergency organization and assignment of responsibilities, as outlined in Standard, Three), and a working EOC. This includes an EOC layout or configuration; the necessary EOC displays, message forms, and procedures for processing information; and assignment of EOC personnel, with job or position descriptions for each-all tailored to local organization and needs.

Means to develop the foregoing plans and procedures include courses (such as the Civil Preparedness Planning Workshop); on-site assistance by State or Regional professionals; and/or an EOS or other exercise, tailored to the locality's organization and plans. Representatives of non-governmental groups with emergency functions have participated in planning (e.g., news media personnel, doctors, hospital administrators, etc.). The jurisdiction's locally-tailored plans, as well as its EOC organization, staffing, and procedures, have been shown to be workable in an SOS or other locally-tailored exercise. It appears that the decision-making team of key executives would be able to conduct coordinated intra-jurisdiction operations effectively, based on common knowledge of the situation as displayed in the EOC, and the supporting EOC staff functions reasonably efficiently.

c. Improving EOC Capabilities and Capabilities of Forces and Groups Outside the EOC - There has been at least one exercise within the last two years. The jurisdiction has done the training and exercising necessary to improve the ability of the EOC decision-makers and staff to direct coordinated operations, and it has also developed the organization and capabilities outside of the EOC that are needed for actual emergency operations. These non-EOC capabilities have in general been developed to at least the "minimum level" as outlined in Standards Three through Five. Emphasis has been on training all the necessary elements of the local emergency organization and on improving plans and procedures, as shown necessary by critiques of an SOS exercise or otherwise.

External capabilities include radiological monitors trained in reporting weapons effects or other disaster effects to the EOC. RM's have been assigned to monitoring stations or to shelters, or may be organic to the police, fire, or other forces of government. (See Standard Five.) If the jurisdiction has sufficient public shelters, Shelter Complex Headquarters have been organized and are trained in securing reports from shelter managers in public shelters, and either dealing with problems in shelters or requesting assistance via the Shelter Officer in the EOC.

The local health officer, doctors and hospital administrators, and ambulance services have done any additional planning needed for the movement and treatment of mass casualties resulting from a peacetime or attack-caused emergency. The heads of the welfare department and voluntary agencies have done any additional planning needed for the feeding, housing, and other care of people affected by nuclear-attack or peacetime emergencies (e.g., persons who have evacuated areas threatened by flood or hurricane). The local Emergency Public Information Officer and the news media have done any additional planning needed on getting emergency information and advice to citizens before, during, and after emergencies.

EOC capabilities have been improved as needed. These may include specific mechanics of EOC operation, such as handling communications, message processing, or posting maps and displays. The disaster analysis group, headed by the Radiological Defense Officer(s), has been given any practice needed in receiving reports from radiological monitors, analyzing them, and producing and displaying information on disaster effects in a form that is understandable and useful to the key executives, as a basis for making decisions.

Means for making necessary improvements may include classroom instruction, seminars, work- shops, on-the-job training, and sub-system exercises. Examples of sub-system exercises include (1) scenarios and problems to give radiological monitors and the EOC disaster analysis group practice in reporting and analysis of the radioactive fallout or other hazards; (2) exercises for shelter managers, shelter complex headquarters (if required), and the EOC Shelter Officer on reporting and dealing with problems in public shelters; (3) exercises for health-medical professionals and hospital and ambulance staffs in movement and treatment of mass casualties; (4) exercises for governmental and voluntary welfare staffs in the care of disaster victims or refugees; and (5) exercises for news media and Emergency Public Information staffs in getting information and advice to the citizens.

Seminars or workshops for local executives may consider what specific Increased-Readiness actions would have to be taken in a crisis period, what department or group would be responsible for taking these actions, what resources would be required, and how these would be obtained.