CIP Update

 

July 13, 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 & Education 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.

 

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 32 communities in 20 states with over 2,200 participants collaborating on 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 / Layton, UT / Lewis & Clark County, MT / Libertyville, IL / Littleton, CO / Marquette County, MI / Milwaukee, WI / Monroe County, MI / 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 
July 16/18, 2007 - Sandy City, UT  (Enhanced Social Capital Survey Project)
July 24, 2007 – Riverwoods, IL  (Initiate CIP for Lake-Cook Regional Illinois)
July 26, 2007 – Schaumburg, IL  (Initiate CIP for Schaumburg, Illinois)

August 16, 2007 - Buncombe County, NC  (Facilitate Tabletop Exercise)
August 30, 2007 - Dane County, WI  (Initiate CIP for Dane County, Wisconsin)

September 12/13, 2007 – Dallas, TX (Tentative – Facilitate Tabletop Exercise)

 

Thank You Dave LaRowe - Job Opening at MSU

Dave has been an integral part of the MSU staff in facilitating the CIP Program across the nation the last few years.  Dave’s background, expertise, and commitment to helping agencies, businesses, non-profits, and communities to create partnerships for joint crisis management will be greatly missed.  Many of you who have worked closely with him through the CIP workshops and tabletop exercises know that he brings passion and flexibility, along with his creativity to his work.  Prior to accepting a position at MSU, Dave had a successful career with the Michigan State Police.  In addition, he was formerly a music teacher.  Dave is returning to teaching music and will bring his enthusiasm, knowledge, and personal touch when working with school children.  Thank you Dave for your work!

 

MSU currently has a vacancy for a program facilitator in the CIP Program.  The position requires someone with experience, knowledge, and skills in emergency management, as well as supplemental knowledge in business continuity, preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.  Interested persons should have experience in working with both public and private sectors.  The position also requires experience in public speaking, designing and making presentations, working with various software programs (Word, Power Point, etc.) and should be available to travel within the United States. 

 

The selected person will need to be familiar with various U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiatives and programs.  This position is funded through a DHS grant awarded to MSU; therefore, the program facilitator position is contingent upon federal funding.  This position pays $45,000 a year, plus benefits.

 

If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit a cover letter and resume to Brit Weber either via email or U.S. mail.  The contact information is listed below.

 

Leading from the Front WMD Program for Police Chiefs is Completed!

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded a grant to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) to develop an executive level WMD awareness training program for police chiefs.  The IACP contracted with MSU to develop the curriculum.  Eventually, MSU administered this unique training program.  A number of law enforcement, public safety, and other professionals attended the ‘Leading from the Front: Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness for the Law Enforcement Executive’ program.

 

A total of 2,451 participants from 1,396 local, state, tribal, and federal agencies, and private sector entities from 39 states attended the WMD awareness program.  The attendees consisted of executive, management, and supervisory personnel who participated in the two-day workshops.

 

Our thanks to Mike Morrissey, who helped create, administer, and deliver this program across the nation.  Of course, the quality of the program was greatly enhanced through all the consultants who brought their expertise in delivering this highly rated training program.  Our thanks to the consultants, both present and in the past that have an integral part in helping make our nation safer.

 

Mike is leaving MSU after five years, but will be occasionally assisting us on various projects in the future.  Prior to Mike joining the MSU, he had a successful career with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and retired as the Special Agent in Charge out of the Detroit Office.  Mike has a long standing affiliation with MSU, as he earned his bachelor’s degree from the School of Criminal Justice, and was a member of the Spartan football team, as well.

 

Our sincere thanks to Mike for not only creating and delivering a program that had a profound impact across the nation, but also in sharing your expertise, style, and friendship.  The Leading from the Front WMD Awareness Program was a success and has completed its intended mission.

 

What do I Have – What do I Need?

Sometimes it is a complex world that we work and live in.  We can be pulled in many directions in trying to do our jobs, while balancing these demands with our personal lives.  As time progresses, more information comes from various directions, such as the media, internet, colleagues, and other sources.  Yet, with all the complexity, demands, and challenges - it comes down to what do we have and what do we need?

 

In the CIP workshops, the staff facilitates the expertise of the participants to create partnerships for joint critical incident management.  Participants are exposed to some of the basics of emergency preparedness through the risk assessment process, using the Incident Command System, and developing resources to mitigate the impact of a crisis.  One challenge for public and private sector professionals is knowing what resources are available and to create a system to locate other resources.  An excellent document that provides basic guidelines for resource management and logistics is the NFPA1600: Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs.

 

Do you have a written of formal policy on managing resources?  If not, please review NFPA1600, which provides guidelines to help manage resources.  For example, Section 5.6.5 states that an assessment shall be conducted to identify resource capabilities.  Under 5.6.6. the organization shall do an inventory of internal and external resources and maintain a log.  Also, 5.6.7. states that donations of goods, services, personnel, and facilities shall be addressed (NFPA1600, 2007).  These standards provide basic guidelines for either establishing a policy or to compare with your organization’s procedures.  Take a look at the explanations under the Appendix, which provides clarification on these subsections.

 

For more information, please visit NFPA at www.nfpa.org. 

 

Building an Alliance

Our congratulations and support to those who are keeping the alliances together for emergency preparedness!  The road that you are traveling has a number of obstacles.  It may be much easier if you, as the chief or executive could simply tell the city, county, state, business association, corporate headquarters, or organization what you "need" to fix problems.  At times this is successful depending on economic, cultural, political, or other concerns that influence the outcome. 

 

An alliance of businesses, non-profits, and public sector agencies who meet "collectively" can discuss items "jointly" to examine the needs and form partnerships that create "solutions".  The diversity of the stakeholders includes vast experiences that provide a road everyone can follow.  Therefore, we ask, what does it take to build an alliance?

 

It requires collaboration, identifying high priority needs, getting the "right" decision-makers to the table, helping others to see the benefits of participation, creating a forum for open discussion, starting with small tasks to show the successes, encouraging trust and negotiation, staying on track, and finding champions to keep the alliance moving forward, especially, when you encounter challenges.

 

Many communities are enhancing the partnership to create a community-wide forum.  Congratulations!

 

Recent Postings to the CIP Information Exchange Website
The CIP Information Exchange website is a large database for public and private sector professionals interested in homeland security, emergency preparedness, business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency management.  It also contains research, 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 postings, including the following:

·        Achieving NERC CIP Compliance (Continuity Central)

·        How to Communicate in a Crisis (CSO Update)

·        Vehicle Borne Improvise Explosive Devices (EMR-ISAC)

·        Lessons Learned – Issues Raised on the Virginia Tech University Tragedy

 

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

NFPA1600 Standard of Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs (2007 Edition).  National Fire Protection Association.

 

 

 

 

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