CIP Update

December 28, 2007

This newsletter is for public agencies, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders involved or interested in public-private partnerships for joint emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.

 

Michigan State University (MSU) produces the newsletter through the Critical Incident Protocol (CIP)-Community Facilitation Program under a grant awarded by the Training & Exercise Integration Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This newsletter provides ideas, suggestions, best practices, and lessons learned to establish critical incident protocols using public-private partnerships.

 

Through the CIP Program, Michigan State University facilitates public-private partnerships for cities, counties, and regions across the nation.  The CIP Program is free of charge to participating communities.

 

Please visit our website at www.cip.msu.edu for more information about the program.

 

Participating Communities in the CIP Program
The CIP Program has been initiated in 34 communities in 21 states with over 2,600 participants establishing public-private partnerships for joint management of critical incidents. We are looking to work with other cities, counties and regions. Is there a location in the nation that you think may be interested in developing a public-private partnership? If so, please let us know.

 

Currently, we are working with the following communities:
Allentown, PA / Annapolis, MD / Bethlehem, PA / Brooklyn, OH / Brown County, WI / Buncombe County, NC / Carroll County, MD / Casa Grande, AZ / Clark County, NV / Dallas, TX / Dane County, WI / Douglas County, KS / Evansville, IN / GCCC-St. Louis, MO / Greensboro, NC / Hoover, AL / Lake-Cook Corridor, IL / Layton, UT / Lewis & Clark County, MT / Libertyville, IL / Littleton, CO / Marquette County, MI / Milwaukee, WI / Monroe County, MI / Mountain View, CA / Northampton County, PA / Norwalk, CT / Oakland County, MI / Perkiomen Valley, PA / Redmond, WA / Racine, WI / Richmond, VA / Rockville, MD / Sandy City, UT

 

CIP Program Activities

January 11, 2008 – Norwalk, CT (Norwalk Partnership Meeting)

January 23, 2008 – Naperville, IL (Overview of CIP Program)

February 14, 2008 – San Diego, CA (Presentation at CA Homeland Security Conference)

March 6, 2008 – Eau Claire County, WI (Initiating CIP Program)

March 19, 2008 – Santa Rosa County, FL (Initiating CIP Program)

April 1, 2008 – Arlington County, VA (Initiating CIP Program)

April 16, 2008 – Dallas, TX (Facilitating Tabletop Exercise)

 

Public-Private Partnership Website

Eau Claire County, WI has created a website for their public-private partnership program, Businesses for a Disaster-Resistant Community.  Their mission is to “help strengthen the partnership between the public and private sectors to ensure a coordinated disaster response, mitigate potential impacts, and maximize business continuity in Eau Claire County (Eau Claire County, 2007, p.1)”.  Grant funding for the website and related program services was provided by the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance. 

 

Communities participating in the CIP Program have expressed interest in creating their own website, and the Eau Claire County model serves as a template.  Knowing the targeted audience includes businesses, non-profit organizations, and public sector agencies, a website should reflect this diversity, while balancing the amount of content on the web pages.  Web page construction should reflect writing that is free of spelling and grammatical errors as well as concise paragraphs and bulleted points which highlight the information. 

 

If you are interested in creating a website that focuses on partnerships, you may want to view the Eau Claire County website at http://www.wcwrpc.org/thepartnership.mht.   

 

Emergency Support Function (ESF) 18 / Business and Industry

Emergency Support Functions (ESF) provide the mission, policies, structures, and procedures on preparing for, responding to, and recovering from man-made and natural disasters.  The federal government through the 2004 National Response Plan and other documents provide guidance on the role and responsibilities of ESF’s.  States, tribes, and local agencies utilize ESF in their plans as well.  Some examples of ESF’s are listed below.

o       ESF 1 – Transportation

o       ESF 4 – Firefighting

o       ESF 5 – Emergency Management

o       ESF 9 – Urban Search and Rescue

o       ESF 14 – Long-Term Community Recovery and Mitigation

 

Many agencies across the nation have expanded the role of ESF’s to include ESF 18 – Business and Industry.  Florida’s Santa Rosa County Office of Emergency Management has incorporated ESF 18 into their emergency management plans.  The purpose of ESF 18 is, “to provide guidance and coordinate issues with Santa Rosa County’s business community in all phases of emergency management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation (ESF 18, 2007, p. 1)”. 

 

The document defines roles and responsibilities, lead agencies, alerts, and actions, and should include the following:

o       Assist in the development and testing of methods for communicating emergency information to businesses at risk from a disaster.

o       Participate in all hazards exercises involving Emergency Support Function 18.

o       Plan and coordinate activities to be implemented in the EOC with support agencies.

o       Maintain a list of Emergency Support Function 18 member companies, and jointly held assets that can be deployed during an emergency.

o       Provide business owners with the appropriate expertise to participate in activities designed to reduce or minimize the impacts to businesses from future disasters.

o       Assist local businesses needs in the aftermath of a disaster event to better coordinate and target response activities.

o       ESF18 will operate under the ICS (Incident Command System) structure in the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) and will coordinate liaison staffing as needed and required to represent the business community in the EOC (ESF, 2007, p. 2-3).

 

The local chambers of commerce have been designated as private sector lead agencies and their responsibilities in the Santa Rosa County ESF 18 are to:

o       Serve as the designate point of contact..….representing the business community in the EOC during a disaster or emergency.

o       Coordinate the dissemination of information to member and non-member businesses following a disaster, including supporting agencies.

o       Provide status information to the Planning Section for inclusion into EOC briefings and Incident Actions Plans (ESF, 2007, p. 3).

 

Public sector agencies, businesses, and non-profit organizations that are not familiar with the ESF 18 / Business and Industry model may utilize this document as a template to design a community partnership model.   To download the document, please go to the CIP Information Exchange database and click on Integrating Business & Industry into Public Emergency Support Function (ESF-18).  Directions to access the CIP Information Exchange are provided below.

 

Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) and MSU Extension Office

Across the nation, land-grant colleges and universities have historically provided program services through county and regional extension offices under guidance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  An excellent resource for emergency preparedness and disaster recovery is the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN), a collaboration of Land Grant University systems and the USDA.  Although EDEN is primarily available to extension offices, it provides a wealth of expertise and networking capabilities for food safety.  For more on EDEN, go to www.EDEN.lsu.edu.

 

An additional national, state, and local resource within the industry is the Michigan State University (MSU) Extension Office, which provides leadership in the area of emergency management.  The MSU Extension emergency management program provides services in:

o       Agricultural Safety

o       Family Safety & Security

o       Homeland Security

o       Wildfire Mitigation

o       Animal Emergency Planning

o       Food Safety & Security

o       Exotic & Foreign Animal Disease

o       Families, Children & Stress

o       Sanitation, Mold & Odors

o       Portable Generator Use & Safety

o       Land Use & Hazard Mitigation

 

To learn more, go to www.msue.msu.edu/emergency.

 

Free Computerized Incident Command System (ICS) Program

If you are interested in simulated crisis scenarios with realistic time delays and resource limitations, the “Incident Commander” is available at no cost to participants.  Test your skills by working on large scale emergencies as the incident commander of the police, fire, EMS, public works, and school administrators.  Up to 16 participants on a shared computer network may collaborate on the organizational and tactical responsibilities of responding to and recovering from a crisis.

 

The National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs is offering the Incident Commander that enhances management training.  Participants utilizing the Incident Commander will respond to a school hostage situation, chemical spill, possible terrorism incident, and the aftermath of a severe storm.  Through this program, the roles of Incident Commander and the command team are assigned.

 

The National Criminal Justice Reference Service website at http://www.ncjrs.gov is offering the “Incident Commander” program.  This website provides several resources, documents, and other materials.  To order your free copy, go to http://www.incidentcommander.net.

 

Recent Postings to the CIP Information Exchange Website
The CIP Information Exchange website is a vast database for public and private sector professionals interested in homeland security, emergency preparedness, business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency management.  It also contains research publications, government documents, news items, and more.

 

To enter the CIP Information Exchange website, please go to https://angel.msu.edu and enter “msu.msu@angel” in the User/NetID and “partnership” (both without quotation marks) as the password to log in. On the next page, please click on CIP, which launches the main menu.

 

Located in the folder "Bulletin Board - Information for all Communities" are a variety of recent postings, including:

o       DHS – Resolve to be Ready Campaign 2008

o       Securing America’s Passenger Rail System (RAND)

o       Public Health Emergency Response: A Guide for Leaders and Responders

o       Integrating Business & Industry into Public Emergency Support Function (ESF-18)

o       What FEMA Aid Can Cover

 

There are numerous other resources located on the website. To locate a specific topic, utilize the "search" function. 

 

Past Newsletters
If you are interested in viewing past CIP Update newsletters, please go to www.cip.msu.edu and select "Newsletters" from the main menu.

 

Closing
If you have any topics and/or ideas for a future CIP Update newsletter, please contact Brit Weber at weberbr@msu.edu or (517) 355-2227 or other MSU staff members. About every three weeks you will receive this newsletter via email. If you no longer wish to be on this list, please reply to this email.

 

Disclaimer
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or Michigan State University.

 

Sources

Eau Claire County Office of Emergency Management, WI.  (December 2007). Businesses for a Disaster-Resistant Community website.  Retrieved on 12-28-07 from http://www.wcwrpc.org/thepartnership.mht.

 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  (December, 2004).  National Response Plan, pg. 12, Figure #2.

 

Santa Rosa County Office of Emergency Management.  (December, 2007).  Emergency Support Function (ESF) 18 / Business and Industry.

 

 

Brit Weber

Program Director

CIP-Community Facilitation

School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University
1407 S. Harrison Rd., 335 Nisbet Bldg.
East Lansing, MI 48823
Work:  (517)  355-2227      Cell:  (517) 206-1640
weberbr@msu.edu
Visit our website:  http://www.cip.msu.edu