Emergency response planning
If you have emergency response plans in place, do they provide information on the following areas and answer the associated questions?
| A management structure (command and control) | Who is responsible for the overall management? Who is responsible for the operations of particular organisations? Who is responsible for coordinating particular tasks? (See also Topic 10 of this subject.) |
| Responsibilities | Are all the necessary tasks assigned to organisations/ personnel? Are the responsibilities of all organisations described? Are support responsibilities as well as primary responsibilities detailed? |
| Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs) | Have locations for Emergency Operations Centres been designated? Do they have adequate resources, communications, feeding, sleeping, and ablutions facilities? Are they remote from areas likely to be damaged? Do they have back-up power? Do they have trained staff? Do they have appropriate Standard Operating Procedures for staff to ensure effective operation? Are they exercise regularly or at all? |
| Damage assessment | Who does it, who do they report to? How is the information recorded, who relays the information to those concerned? |
| Communications planning | What forms of communication do you have? Do you have back-ups? Who is responsible? Do people know the relevant frequencies/contact numbers? (See also paragraph 8.06 in Chapter 8 of AEM: Community Emergency Planning Guide.) |
| Resource management | Who coordinates resources within each organisation? Who is responsible for supplying resources beyond the normal capabilities of each organisation? Who records the use and cost of resources? |
| Financial management | Do you have access to emergency funds? Who records the expenditure for future acquittal/repayment? What are the limits of expenditure for personnel? |
| Preservation of essential records | Are there procedures for ensuring the safety of essential paper and computer records in your organisation? |
| Alerting and warning | Who is responsible for providing warnings for each likely type of emergency? To whom is the warning supplied? At which warning level is response action initiated? Is there a clear system that ensures all relevant organisations/personnel are alerted? |
| Media management | Do you have contact details for all media outlets (radio, television and newspapers)? Who is responsible for providing information to the media? Who is responsible for clearing information? |
| Public information | Who is responsible for issuing public statements about emergencies? Do they have public credibility, do they have adequate liaison with other organisations who may also issue warnings? What is the purpose of the warnings, what action is required of the public? Who will inform the public when the danger has passed? Is there a point of contact for members of the public wishing specific information, and is this point of contact publicly known? Is there a facility for multi-lingual message broadcasting and an interpreter service for incoming calls? (See also Chapter 8 of AEM: Community Emergency Planning Guide.) |
| Use of voluntary assistance | What tasks can be safely performed by unskilled volunteers? Who coordinates this work? |
| Rescue | What rescue tasks may need to be performed? Who is responsible, who coordinates, who supports? |
| Outside assistance | Who coordinates the requests for assistance outside your organisation or jurisdictional area? Where is this assistance to come from? Is there an expected form that the request should take? |
| Responsibilities of management/elected officials | Have all senior management and elected officials been allocated a task? To whom do management or officials turn for information? |
| Evacuation | Does any person or organisation have the authority to evacuate people who are threatened? Are there evacuation plans and procedures in place? Are there pre-designated locations for evacuees to travel to? How many people may need to be evacuated? Under what circumstances should they be evacuated? Who will tell the people that it is safe to return? Who manages the evacuation centres and evacuees? (See also Chapter 8 of AEM: Community Emergency Planning Guide.) |