CIP Update

February 24, 2006

This newsletter is for cities, counties and communities involved in public-private partnerships for joint emergency preparedness, planning and prevention. 

Michigan State University produces the newsletter through the Critical Incident Protocol (CIP)-Community Facilitation Program under a grant awarded by the Office of Grants & Training, Preparedness Directorate, 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.

Please go to www.cip.msu.edu for more information about the program.

Participating Communities

Allentown, PA / Annapolis, MD / Bethlehem, PA / Brooklyn, OH / Carroll County, MD / Casa Grande, AZ / Clark County, NV / Evansville, IN / Hoover, AL / Marquette County, MI / Milwaukee, WI / Monroe County, MI / Northampton County, PA / Oakland County, MI / Perkiomen Valley, PA / Redmond, WA / Racine, WI / Richmond, VA / Rockville, MD / Sandy City, UT

We are currently working with 20 communities and will work with another 24 cities, counties or communities over the next couple of years.  Of the 24 available CIP Programs, we are in contact with 10 communities.  Is there a location in the nation that you think may be interested in building a public-private partnership for joint emergency preparedness?

Allentown Business Partnership Group

In 2004 the CIP Program was initiated in Allentown, PA and they have been busy ever since! 

Recently, the Business Partnership Group met to work on NIMS700, ICS100, disasters and the level of crisis, testing emergency preparedness plans, participating in drills with city agencies and selecting upcoming speakers for future meetings.  Additionally, this group will be sharing leadership with both the city and county agencies. 

Annapolis Critical Incident Partnership Group

In late 2004 the CIP Program started in the capital of Maryland – Annapolis. 

This active group is composed of numerous talented individuals who understand the value of public-private partnerships.  They formalized an agreement with the Chamber of Commerce to be an affiliate, similar to a standing committee.  Recently, they have been in the process of formalizing their mission statement, objectives and creed.  Here is the “draft” of their objectives, which might assist other CIP groups around the nation. 

1.      Raise awareness of the need for emergency preparedness within the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County community and for business continuity planning within the private sector.

2.      Support private sector businesses in the protection of their critical infrastructure, and in the preparedness of employees and their families against domestic and civil emergencies.

3.      Serve as a resource for local area best practices in emergency preparedness and business continuity planning.

4.      Assist city and county emergency managers in identifying resources available for community response, recovery and restoration in the event of a large-scale disaster in the region.

5.      Establish a mentor-protégé relationship between businesses and industries that have established programs in business continuity planning and emergency preparedness and those that lack the capacity or requisite resources.

6.      Establish a program in community preparedness that can serve as a model for the nation.

Risk Management Model

There are many risk management models that range from the simple to the complex paradigms.  In the CIP Program we standardize the process through our Risk Assessment Matrix (RAM), which was built upon researching and reviewing numerous military, governmental and private sector models.  For more information on the RAM, please visit our website at www.cip.msu.edu and click on Risk Assessment, where you can download the RAM form along with directions on how to conduct a risk assessment. 

Here is a short version of another risk management process.  There are three components, which are threats, vulnerabilities and consequences.  Therefore, the first step is to identify the threats, which can be divided into internal and external sources.  The second step is to assess the vulnerabilities, which can be generally identified as those factors that may make it difficult to achieve established agency/business objectives.  The last part of this risk management model is consequence, which is the outcome of an event expressed qualitatively or quantitatively, is a loss, injury, disadvantage or gain.

If you would like assistance in administering a risk assessment, you can sometimes find these resources through your local emergency management or business continuity professional.  Additionally, feel free to contact the CIP staff for assistance.

Emergency Preparedness and Persons with Disabilities

Over the last year the issue of emergency preparedness for persons with disabilities has risen to top in discussions at the national, state and local levels.  In one of our business emergency preparedness workshops in Illinois, one individual shared with the attendees that it is estimated that over 54 million people in the U.S. have a disability!  Further, while recently attending a United States Department of Homeland Security conference in San Diego, this same topic was discussed at length.

The question becomes have communities addressed this issue?  What can and should a community do?  Often the local emergency management professional, along with public safety officials have partnered with agencies and non-profits that work with the disabled to plan for emergencies, yet there are still numerous examples across the nation where more needs to be done.

One resource is the National Organization on Disability (located at www.nod.org), which launched the “Emergency Preparedness Initiative” to ensure that emergency managers address disability concerns and that people with disabilities are included in all levels of emergency preparedness-planning, response, and recovery (National Organization on Disability, 2006).

Throughout the first three years of the program, EPI has become firmly established within the emergency management industry and disability advocacy organizations. EPI remains the nationally recognized leader in emergency preparedness for people with disabilities and special needs.

Upcoming Conference on Public/Private Partnerships

A Midwest Summit titled “Economics of Disaster”, which will enhance critical incident preparedness through public/private partnerships, is scheduled for May 3-4, 2006 in LaCrosse, WI.

Creating successful public-private partnerships is an essential key in identifying, addressing, and resolving issues concerning preparedness and continuity in today’s business world.  The Midwest Summit will provide opportunities for innovation and investment in resilience and economic sustainability for both private businesses and government infrastructure.  This two-day seminar will focus on establishing formal coordinated agreements, networking, information sharing, crime prevention, resource sharing, training, legislation, operations, establishing regional information command centers and coordinating the flow of information regarding infrastructure all in an effort to promote crisis preparedness and homeland security (Kondracki).

Conference details are in progress, and in the next newsletter we will share with you costs, speakers, break-outs, registration, lodging and more.

Workshops on Enhancing Your Business’s Emergency Preparedness by Developing Alliances

Michigan State University worked with the State of Illinois, Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in putting forth these workshops around the state.  In the workshop, participants learned how businesses position and recover from a crisis or emergency, create a stronger relationship with public safety officials and learn best practices for saving money through long-term crisis planning.

The workshops were held at three community colleges, and coordinated by the College of Lake County, Grayslake.  MSU staff shared best practices, along with emergency preparedness topics, business continuity planning and included a table exercise to finish off the day-long seminars.

Critical Infrastructure Protection and the Public/Private Sector Interface

A one-day conference was recently presented by a group of technology-related private-sector companies in Detroit, MI, spearheaded by Telecom Technicians, Inc. of Sterling Heights, MI and First Response Solutions Inc. of Southfield, MI.  Subtitled "Cooperative Security Technology Solutions in the Post 9/11 World" the one of a first-of-its-kind event brought together representatives from local, county, state and federal first-responder agencies along with security personnel from Kelly Services, Northrup Grumman, Olympia Entertainment, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Target and the Ambassador Bridge, among others, to share information, ideas, and solutions related to critical infrastructure protection.

The discussions centered on leveraging security assets, trends and challenges in video security, biometrics applied, identity verification technologies, computerized facility emergency pre-planning, real-time vital signs monitoring for first responders, and the role of the Michigan Emergency Management Agency at the private/public interface.  It was discovered that public and private entities share many of the same concerns when addressing security issues, which are establishing effective cross-sector working relationships; identifying affordable technological solutions to address evolving security issues; accessing and sharing current risk and threat information; and complying with various regulations and standards.

Kelly Services spoke on the importance of establishing and maintaining public/private partnerships.  After citing statistics on the significant impact that unprepared businesses suffer from disasters, they listed the many similarities between public institutions and private businesses in the area of crisis management.  In the summary, Kelly Services noted that private and public entities have the same goals, which are to help ensure people are okay and to continue primary objectives in the face of major disruption. 

Recent Postings to CIP Information Exchange Website

To enter the "CIP Information Exchange" website, please go to https://angel.msu.edu and enter your user/password ID (or use msu.msu@angel in the User/NetID and "partnership" as the password to log in).  Click on CIP, which launches to the main menu.

Located in the folder "Bulletin Board - Information for all Communities" are just a few of the following postings:

 

            “National Infrastructure Protection Plan (Jan 2006 Version 2.0)”

            “Retailer Target Branches out into Police Work”

“Seven Steps to Employee Preparedness”

            “Pipeline Emergencies Training Program”

There are numerous other resources located on the website.  To locate a specific topic, use the "search" function, which can be found on the main menu page on the right-hand side in the green task bar.

Starting a CIP Program

Feel free to make a referral to the MSU staff about possibly starting a CIP Program elsewhere in the United States.  We can use your assistance! 

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 want to be on this list, please reply to this email.

Sources

            Kondracki, Edward.  (07 Feb. 2006).  Summit Announcement.
                  Internet notification on February 07, 2006.

            National Organization on Disability.  (2006).  Emergency Preparedness Initiative.

                 Retrieved on February 24, 2006 from:  http://www.nod.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&PageID=11&

  

Brit Weber
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