CIP Update
September 09, 2005
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 for Domestic Preparedness, 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 / 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 / Redmond, WA / Racine, WI / Richmond Area, VA / Rockville, MD / Sandy City, UT
We are currently working with 18 communities and will work with another 27 cities, counties or communities over the next couple of years. Of the 27 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? Please let us know.
What's Happening in CIP Communities
Northampton County, PA - The Northampton County Partnership group is sponsoring "Gang Recognition" and "Incident Command" training, which is followed by a monthly meeting.
Annapolis, MD - The Annapolis Critical Incident Partnership group is working with local agencies in response to Hurricane Katrina. The group is sponsoring the relocation of families from New Orleans to Annapolis, along with food and other staples. In addition, they are establishing a centralized location of services for community residents and businesses to contact in providing relief to the New Orleans area.
Carroll County, MD - The Critical Incident Protocol Group has established the following committees: Exercise Committee, Emergency Planning & Resources, and Public Information Committee. Further, their BECI (Business Emergency Contact Information) program continues to be refined. This centralized internet database is available to all businesses in Carroll County. Participating businesses enter their contact information, along with the description of the facility, location of hazardous materials, and other relevant information. If a business is closed and an emergency call to police or fire is placed, the 911 dispatcher can easily access the information on the business from the computer. This information is very helpful to responding emergency service personnel. Another feature of BECI is that participating businesses can list items that they would provide during disasters, such as equipment, personnel and more.
Tabletop Exercise
The last meeting, as part of the CIP program, is a tabletop exercise that we individually design and facilitate. When businesses and public sector agencies work together on a simulated disaster, there are many positive results. Traditionally, the scenarios involve public agencies and business personnel responding to an incident and then conclude with the recovery process.
Recently, we held a tabletop exercise in Sandy City, Utah involving the South Towne Center shopping mall and Sandy City public agencies. Our staff was impressed with the competent, decisive, and comprehensive response actions to the scenario by both the mall and city. However, this exercise was different from others we facilitated due to the city's actions during the recovery process.
Normally, after the critical incident is over, most public agencies have completed the main portion of their tasks and responsibilities. At this point, the devastated business picks up the pieces and attempts to resume normal operations. Depending on the impact of the disaster, it can take hours, days, or months to recover or it can lead to eventual bankruptcy.
The business community in Sandy City can rely on the city's leadership in regard to response and assistance. During the final segment of our simulated disaster, the recovery phase, the city indicated it can accomplish the following:
1. Using the Redevelopment Agency Program, the city can provide any needed gap financing to the shopping mall to help in restoration.
2. Utilizing city volunteers, they will distribute accurate information about the event to reduce fear or panic in the community, in addition to providing details of the city's response and improvements prior to a future incident.
3. The Joint Information Center (JIC) will coordinate with the marketing efforts of the mall to resume normal operations.
4. The Salt Lake County Valley Mental Health Department will be used to support mall employees with counseling.
5. The city will expedite the process of obtaining permits for rebuilding and repairing damaged portions of the mall.
6. The city will continue their investigate efforts.
7. A post-incident assessment (these are done routinely) will be completed with city personnel to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the response and recovery efforts. The city will subsequently communicate the findings to the general public.
8. The city's Economic Development Department will continue to coordinate marketing efforts with the mall.
9. The mall will receive additional security support from the police department for a period of time to assure customers and tourists that it is safe.
Public-Private Partnership Model
MSU profiles organizations which have partnership models for joint emergency preparedness. The following has been in existence since 1989:
The "Partnership for Emergency Planning" (PEP) organization, which is composed of private businesses and public sector service agencies, is located in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is a public/private partnership of individuals who come together to share information and become better prepared to respond to an emergency or recover from a disaster.
PEP was founded in 1989 as a non-profit organization dedicated to emergency planning issues in the Kansas City area. Membership has expanded over the past several years and now includes hospitals, school districts, municipalities, federal, state and local emergency management associations, and some of the largest corporations in Missouri and Kansas. View the PEP website at: www.pepkc.org
Reducing Insurance Costs
Strohl Systems, a business continuity consultant company, along with "CPM-Global Assurance" magazine jointly conducted a survey of 639 business continuity professionals. According to Brian Turley, President of Strohl Systems, "the 911 Commission recommended that insurers start reviewing business continuity plans (Strohl Systems, 2005, para. 2)" of the companies they insure. The survey determined that, "one out of every eight organizations has experienced decreased insurance rates due to a comprehensive business continuity plan (Strohl Systems, 2005, para. 1)."
MSU encourages businesses to meet with their insurance agents to see if joint exercising with the public sector or instituting new procedures through participation in the CIP Program would reduce their insurance rates.
Training for Volunteer and
Donations Management Personnel (Retrieved from Lessons Learned, U.S. Department of Homeland
Security at: https://www.llis.dhs.gov ).
There are various training opportunities across the country for volunteer and
donations management personnel. State agencies and voluntary agencies offer
many different training courses. FEMA's Emergency
Management Institute
(EMI) offers several courses dedicated to volunteer and donations management
which are considered standard training for those working in this field:
· The Role of Voluntary Agencies in Emergency Management: This independent study course educates students about the vital role that voluntary agencies play in providing disaster relief services throughout the entire emergency management cycle. This course can be downloaded from the Independent Study Web site (http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/); the test can be completed and submitted online.
· State Donations Management: This course provides State Donations Coordinators with the knowledge necessary to develop and coordinate a state program to manage unsolicited donated goods and unaffiliated volunteer services during a large-scale disaster.
· Donations Management Workshop: This course addresses the planning and operations of an effective donations management system to ensure efficient use of undesignated donations and spontaneous volunteers during a disaster. This course is part of FEMA's Advanced Professional Series (APS) offered by EMI and is available in most states.
· Donations Management Workshop, Train-the-Trainer (TTT): This course trains qualified instructors to successfully conduct the field Donations Management Workshop in their state. The course focuses on teaching strategies and gives an overview of the training design for the workshop. Participants should be State Donations Management Coordinators and/or representatives of the voluntary agencies on the donation team who have been selected by the state to be a part of their cadre of instructors.
Most state emergency management agencies offer these FEMA training courses locally. Some state emergency management agencies offer additional training courses on donations management, including Ohio, Indiana, California, and many others. Contact your state emergency management agency to find out about available volunteer and donations management training offered in your state.
Volunteers Needed for Hurricane Katrina
Volunteers are needed due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. If you would like to assist in the disaster relief and recovery efforts or make a contribution, please contact any of the following agencies for more information:
American Red Cross
1-866 GET INFO and 1-880 HELP NOW
Salvation Army
1-800 SAL ARMY
Charity Navigator Organization
List of 4600 charities
1-201 818-1288
FEMA
Alabama Governor's Emergency Relief Fund
1-877-273-5018
Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
1-877-HELPLA1
Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund
1-866-230-8903
Baptist World Alliance
Catholic Charities USA Disaster Relief
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/
Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints Emergency
Response
1-801-422-3945 or 1-801-240-7688
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 box to log in). Click on CIP and it will take you to the main menu.
Located in the folder "Bulletin Board - Information for all Communities" are just a few of the following postings:
"On Second Anniversary of 2003 Blackout, Many Ohio Companies Still Lack Business Continuity Plans"
"Animal Terrorism - Animal Liberation Front and Similar Groups"
"Emergency Notification System for the Deaf"
"Local Emergency Planning Committees - Final Study"
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!
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
Strohl Systems. (2005, August). New Survey Sheds Light on the Value of Business
Continuity. Retrieved on September 3, 2005 from: http://www.recoverychronicles.com/MediaPR/eNewsletter/August2005/447/Article.asp?ID=43&ArticleID=447&FromNews=true
Brit Weber
School of Criminal Justice
Michigan State University
1407 S. Harrison Rd., 335 Nisbet
Bldg.
East Lansing, MI 48823
Work: (517) 355-2227 *new number
Cell: (517) 206-1640
weberbr@msu.edu
Visit our website: http://www.cip.msu.edu