CIP Update
February 8, 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 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?
Incident Command System (ICS) in the Private Sector
Recently,
we sent out an inquiry to our readers asking who in the private sector
is using the Incident Command System (ICS).
In a September 8, 2004 letter to the nation’s governors, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security outlined a phased approach to the National Incident Management System (NIMS) implementation, with full compliance required by September 30, 2006 for all public sector agencies. Within NIMS is the inclusion of ICS training. For more information, please go to http://www.fema.gov/nims, which offers free on-line training. NIMS was developed so responders from different jurisdictions and disciplines can collaborate better to respond to natural disasters and emergencies, including acts of terrorism. NIMS benefits include a unified approach to incident management, standard command and management structures, and emphasis on preparedness, and mutual aid and resource management.
The CIP staff encourages the private sector to become familiar with ICS, and if at all possible, to take advantage of the training, and incorporate ICS into your program. We received about 50 responses on how ICS is being used by the private sector. Listed below is a summary of the responses. ICS is recognized by the private sector as a valuable tool.
Maritime sector / railroad sector / chemical sector / hospitals use HEICS / many foreign owned companies / Ford Motor Company / Daimler Chrysler Company / energy sector / Little Caesars Pizza / secondary schools / Detroit Tigers / entertainment venues / Bellagio Casino / tribal casinos / Detroit Red Wings / PECO Energy / E.I. Dupont / universities / Fairlane Shopping Center / Con Ed / Bristol-Myers Squibb / shipping companies / Alvin H. Butz, Inc / Olympia Entertainment / Merit Medical / Salt River Project (AZ) / Microsoft / Utah Winter Sports Park / PacifiCorp / security sector and others. Also, those businesses that have fire brigades, HAZMAT teams and bio-chem laboratories generally use ICS.
Although we have listed the names of companies in this newsletter it does not necessarily indicate that ICS is used throughout the organization. It may be a specific department, etc.. Plus, listing of the “sector” does not mean that ICS is uniformly applied.
If you are not familiar with ICS, please go to the above website. Moreover, if you are looking at contracting out training of ICS in your organization there are often local services that will provide it. At Michigan State University we rely on Emergency Response Solutions, which is located within the School of Criminal Justice to provide this training in North America. Their website is at http://www.ers.msu.edu/index.html
Topics for CIP Communities
When
working with CIP communities, members sometimes seek topics to discuss
at their meetings.
We have a listing of topics on the members-only website and on CD’s handed out at the meetings by CIP staff. To view the list on the members-only website, use your user name and password to enter the website. At the main menu click on the folder that says “Toolkit”, then on the next page click on the “CIP Toolkit”. On the next page click on “Protocol Partnership Group (PPG)” folder. Then, either open the pdf or word document that states “Examples of PPG Tasks”.
Here are some
examples: site security, notification and warning, workplace violence,
onsite sheltering, school violence, mutual aid, search and rescue,
emergency transportation, credentialing, critical infrastructure
protection, and other ideas.
Is Your Community
Networked for Critical Incident Preparedness?
One of the unique services that MSU offers through the CIP Program is
capturing a community’s ability to network and communicate relative to
critical incident preparedness.
When assessing a community’s preparedness level, there are a number of considerations such as available resources (people, property and information), depth of critical infrastructure, economic well-being, robustness of the community, level of emergency preparedness, availability of utilizing mutual aid, social services and other important considerations. In order to measure a community’s preparedness level we look at its capital. You are aware of human capital, which is human assets consisting of items such as skilled workers. Furthermore, there is economic capital and “social capital”, which includes the human factor. The CIP program uses a social capital survey to see what the level of networking is between businesses, non-profits and public agencies in relation to critical incident preparedness. For those communities where we have completed our on-site visits they have received a social capital survey report.
We administered two surveys, one at the first meeting and the second at the last meeting which is usually 6 to 12 months later. The survey, which is confidential and anonymous, asks the participants several questions on how they “perceive” professional relationships on the level of communication relative to critical incident preparedness.
Recently, we provided some general information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on some of our overall results. Here are a few statistics, which reflect all communities. We utilize a pre-test and post-test format and is inclusive of both sectors.
Does your organization have a critical incident response plan? Pre-test: 85% / Post-test: 94%
Was a common incident command system adopted by public/private sectors in your community? Pre-test: 67% / Post-test: 78%
Have you received training on your organization’s critical incident response plan? Pre-test: 71% / Post-test: 80%
Have you participated in joint public/private sector exercises within your present organization during the past two years? Pre-test: 51% / Post-test: 63%
During the past year, have you participated in joint public/private sector meetings focusing on the reduction of risk? Pre-test: 47% / Post-test: 73%
Additionally, in the social capital survey report sent to each community, we assess the extent of the relationships and the level of cooperation. Communities can use these reports to address their strengths and challenges in order to modify their level of preparedness.
NFPA 1600 / Standard of Disaster/Emergency Management
This
publication is an excellent resource for public and private sector
organizations and is used in our programs when working with
communities. It is available at http://www.nfpa.org/PDF/nfpa1600.pdf?src=nfpa.
There is a section that provides some basic guidelines under crisis communication and public information. This information is a measuring stick to use when looking at your organization’s policies, procedures and practices. According to the NFPA1600, “The entity shall establish and maintain a disaster / emergency public information capability that includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) A central
contact facility for the media
(2) A disaster / emergency information handling system
(3) Pre-scripted information bulletins
(4) A method to coordinate and clear information for release
(5) The capability of communicating with special needs populations
(6) Protective action guidelines / recommendations (e.g.,
shelter-in-place or evacuation) (NFPA1600 Standard on
Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs 2004
Edition, 2004, p. 7).”
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:
“Bush Signs
2-Year Terrorism Insurance Extension”
“Video Exposes Tools Used by Hackers”
“UAMS Study: Schools Unprepared for Disasters”
“How to Align Security with your Strategic Business Objectives”
“Free Training Materials from CSX Railroad Company”
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
National
Fire Protection Association. (2004). NFPA1600 Standard on
Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs.
Retrieved on February 07, 2006 from http://www.nfpa.org/PDF/nfpa1600.pdf?src=nfpa.
Work:
(517) 355-2227
Cell: (517) 206-1640
weberbr@msu.edu
Visit
our website: http://www.cip.msu.edu