Critical Incident Protocol –
A Public and Private Partnership
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CIP-Community Facilitation Program?
The Critical Incident Protocol – Community Facilitation Program (CIP/CFP) was developed by the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University (MSU) to build public-private partnerships in cities, counties, and regions across the nation for joint critical incident management and emergency preparedness, utilizing an all hazards approach.
How did the program begin?
In 1998, MSU approached the U.S. Department of Justice with the idea of compiling a collection of best practices and lessons learned in forming public/private partnerships to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from critical incidents. This led to the development of the Critical Incident Protocol: A Public and Private Partnership, a 42-page publication which contains suggestions and ideas from over 150 practitioners.
What is included in the publication?
The Critical Incident Protocol-A Public and Private Partnership contains program objectives, benefits of partnerships, overcoming difficulties, the risk assessment process, critical incident planning, exercising for emergency preparedness, mitigation, media relations, business resumption, as well as a glossary and list of references. It is a “how to” guide and “thought starter” designed to assist public and private sector leaders to initiate the process of creating effective partnerships.
What is a “critical incident?”
A critical incident is any event or situation which occurs outside of normal routine activities that threatens people and/or their homes, businesses, or community. A critical incident requires swift, decisive action involving multiple resources for emergency response. It may include, but is not limited to, accidents, emergencies, natural or man-made disasters, terrorism, crime, and the use of weapons of mass destruction.
What do you mean by the public and private sectors?
Those individuals representing private businesses, corporations, non-profit agencies, first responder agencies and government institutions who have a stake in a community’s emergency preparedness. The public sector usually includes police, fire, emergency management, EMS, public health, public works, administration, and officials. The private sector includes business representatives with responsibilities for security, safety, health, human resources, fleet management, facility operations, risk management, operations, and executives.
How much does it cost a city, community or county to participate?
Program services are funded by the Training and Education Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and are offered at no cost to participating communities.
Why do you call it CIP-Community Facilitation Program?
MSU staff brings together community members to form sustainable partnerships to manage critical incidents through the use of coordinated protocols.
Originally, only the publication was available. However, due to the high level of interest and feedback received from across the nation, we subsequently developed the CIP-Community Facilitation Program using the concepts from the publication.
Can any community participate?
Smaller communities sometimes find it beneficial to participate in the facilitation process with adjacent communities, because this increases the pool of available resources and expertise, and makes for stronger, more sustainable partnerships. Large cities and regions can participate as well. The program is designed to meet the needs, requirements, and desires of the local community, county or region.
What are the goals or objectives of the program?
Create public and private sector understanding of common goals to protect lives and property while sustaining continuity of community life.
Why are businesses included?
Surprisingly, many businesses across the United States are lacking in emergency preparedness, prevention, and planning. A bottom-line point-of-view in management can mean that businesses occasionally look at emergency preparedness as a cost versus an asset. Statistics reveal that many companies fail after experiencing a critical incident. This translates to a loss of revenue to public agencies, loss of jobs to the community, and a loss of services/products from that business. . Most critical incidents occur in the private sector, therefore, it is important for businesses to maintain a level of preparedness prior to an event.
How much of my time and effort will this take?
First, – please remember that program services are already funded by the U.S. government, which means that tax dollars would be coming back to your community. Secondly, a few hours of commitment on the part of the public/private partner are required for a successful program. After participating in the program, we are confident you will agree that it is worthwhile.
Generally, MSU hosts two to four meetings at each community over a period of six to nine months. The first meeting is the orientation and planning session and the final meeting is a “tabletop exercise”, which is designed to test and evaluate the participating agencies and businesses emergency response capabilities and resources.
Who should contact MSU to participate?
Anyone from a community can request a CIP-Community Facilitation. After the initial contact, we will ensure that public and private sector stakeholders are notified and involved in the process.
What other benefits does this program offer?
Why should I participate, since I already have contact with my public or private sector partner?
We have found that many communities believe they have a good partnership with each other. However, many participants have commented on the value of attending the CIP Program, which enabled them to strengthen existing partnerships.
What can I expect from my public or private sector partner?
You can expect discussions on resources, organizational strengths and weaknesses, mutual aid concerns, developing a centralized list of assets, emergency response plans/procedures, joint training/exercising, and how the public and private sector can work together to enhance the safety and security of the community.
Does your city, county or community utilize public-private partnerships for emergency preparedness and joint crisis management??
If not, contact Michigan State University to participate in the CIP-Community Facilitation Program.