Why Should I have or be involved in an Emergency Management Program? Bruce Holloman Mike Chard Paul Eller www.dhsem.state.co.us
Why As Political Subdivisions of Government and elected officials you have responsibilities and duties in disaster situations. This requires coordinated emergency management actions. Coordination requires an Emergency Operations Plan. As a political subdivision of the State you have responsibilities under your service plan and to the public. Prevents over and under response. financial risks and exposures are reduced through reimbursements and strategic spending. Links your organization to others with capabilities that necessarily are not found in a Special District. More resilient organization which means you stay in the game with the ability to serve the users of your service and constituents. Who else has the time? Other duties as assigned programs are always never budgeted or allocated proper time to do the work and usually fail.
Is Emergency Management Risk Management
Close but not quite the same!
Mitigation Identifying risks and hazards to either substantially reduce or eliminate the impact of an incident usually through structural measures. Codes Land use Construction Development control Engineered systems Limit density, build stronger, remove values at risk
Preparedness Enhance the capacity to respond to an incident by taking steps to ensure personnel and entities are capable of responding to a wide range of potential incidents. Training Planning Procuring resources, such as food, water, and medication stockpiles Intelligence and surveillance activities to identify potential threats Exercising to assure the adequacy of planning efforts and the use of after-action reports to improve emergency response plans.
Response Immediate actions to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs. Crisis Management Incident Command Consequence Management- EOC / Macs Public information Policy group involvement What does your district s service plan say? In an emergency or disaster what can you do? What things may you have to do? When is the last time it was reviewed with the County? The actions you take must be inline with your service plan.
Recovery Intended to restore essential services and repair damages caused by the event Continuity of government Establish community engagement Re-establishing of infrastructure Site access and control requirements are no longer needed Residents return home Business open once again Community behaviors are returned You must have responsibility for the recovery work being done to be eligible for reimbursement
A little history In the floods of 2013 otherwise know as DR-4145-CO, 111 special districts were impacted Only 91 were eligible for reimbursement from the Federal Public Assistance program 20 did not receive reimbursement due to eligibility issues
Policy Group Benefits From Emergency Management You are needed to Create the right environment You will have information and situational awareness Your policy directives are used to build the system You will have community engagement Input on press releases and stakeholder messaging Have Continuity of Operations You have less revenue impacts You will be represented in the recovery process
So where is your plan?
What Does the Plan Do? The Emergency Operations Plan describes the structure and guidelines for managing a major emergency or disaster. The plan is part of a larger system of inter-related plans at the local, state and federal levels. The plans address principles found in the National Response Framework (NRF) and the principles of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The inter-related nature of the plan and incident management should create maximum coordination and cooperation between responders from all levels of government.
Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AUTHORIZATION ADMINISTRATIVE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS Authorities Planning Contact Information Record of Changes BASIC EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN Introduction Purpose Legal Authority Special Definitions Scope Situation Planning Assumptions Concept of Operations Emergency Management and Organizations EOC Sections & Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) Additional Annexes Continuity of Government Administration, Logistics and Mutual Aid Plan Development and Maintenance Boulder Emergency Operations Plan Implementation Attachment A- Temporary Flight Restrictions Attachment B - Glossary of Terms Attachment C - Acronyms
Delegation of Authority An organization maybe required or chooses to delegate authority under wildfire events as defined within the Boulder AOP. Delegation of Authority: A statement provided to the Incident Commander by the Agency Executive delegating authority and assigning responsibility. The Delegation of Authority can include objectives, priorities, expectations, constraints, cost share and other considerations or guidelines as needed. Many agencies require written Delegation of Authority to be given to Incident Commanders prior to their assuming command on larger incidents.
Disaster Declaration During an All-Hazards disaster, delegations of authority are not executed and instead a disaster declaration is made. The political subdivision of government declaring must clearly articulate local capabilities exceeded and provide a damage assessment. The political subdivision is requesting assistance from the County or State and resources provided and responsibilities assumed are made by agreement. The political subdivision of government never dissolves their legal statutory sovereignty and therefore continues to govern their town, city or special district.
Resource Mobilization Plan: Provide policy directives related to resource mobilization. Define resource-ordering infrastructures at various governmental levels and their relationships to one another. Centralize resource ordering procedures and practices. Clarify funding mechanisms (and when they apply) as they pertain to fires and all-hazards (non-fire) events. Overview reimbursement, funding, responsible parties.
Finance Plan Emergency purchasing procedures. Time tracking Payroll systems Unit tracking location and miles Emergency funding sources
Policies Policies must be in place before the disaster to qualify for certain types of reimbursement Update policies now if they are inadequate
Documentation Before the disaster, put systems in place to be prepared to document all costs Does your jurisdiction have: Material Summaries Plans Timesheets Equipment Usage Policy and Rates Procurement Policy Equipment Logs Existing Contracts Codes and Standards Inventory Logs Emergency Declaration Process Departmental Coordination Processes Labor Policy Documentation Procedures Insurance Policies
Timing Declaration and approval of costs and projects may come weeks /months after the disaster happens and work begins Obligations and reimbursements can take a very long time Plan accordingly in case reimbursements take a long time
Recovery Response is the easy part New hazards and risks will appear in the subsequent years Cash poor Revenues could drop Mission Creep Emergency reserves need to be built up again Unexpected capital costs Pubic confidence Reimbursement processes
Federal Disaster Assistance FEMA Programs: Individual Assistance Public Assistance Hazard Mitigation National Flood Insurance Program Other Federal entities that provide funding: Small Business Administration Housing and Urban Development U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Highway Administration Other Programs
Take Aways: Get to know your local emergency management officials and the DHSEM Regional Field Manager - build relationships Understand that you have a role in disaster response and recovery Participate in local exercises from the perspectives of an agency having authority and a potential member of the local EOC Understand the basics of disaster finance
Take Aways: Periodically review your service obligations and authorities per statute and their approved Service Plan Create a response and pre-disaster recovery plan that reflects planned actions in the event of an incident. A great place to begin the response and recovery planning process is the review the EOP from the jurisdictions you work within Know the process to use in order to advise the county(ies) you work within of damages during and following an incident pursuant to applicable EOPs Know and understand Federal recovery funding opportunities and damage thresholds that apply within your service jurisdictions Become familiar with the requirements of federal procurement - just in case
Questions?
Statutory references Fire Protection Districts Section 32-1-1002 (c) To undertake and to operate as a part of the duties of the fire protection district an ambulance service, an emergency medical service, a rescue unit, and a diving and grappling service; (I) For ambulance or emergency medical services and extrication, rescue, or safety services provided in furtherance of ambulance or emergency medical services. "Extrication, rescue, or safety services" includes but is not limited to any: (A) Services provided prior to the arrival of an ambulance; (B) Rescue or extrication of trapped or injured parties at the scene of a motor vehicle accident; and (C) Lane safety or blocking provided by district equipment.
32-1-1003. Health service districts (a) To establish, maintain, or operate, directly or indirectly through lease to or from other parties or other arrangement, public hospitals, convalescent centers, nursing care facilities, intermediate care facilities, emergency facilities, community clinics, or other facilities providing health and personal care services, including but not limited to facilities licensed or certified pursuant to section 25-1.5-103 (1) (a), C.R.S., and to organize, own, operate, control, direct, manage, contract for, or furnish ambulance service in said district;
32-1-1003.5. Health assurance districts (a) To organize, operate, control, direct, manage, contract for, furnish, or provide, directly or indirectly, health care services to residents of the health assurance district who are in need of such services;
32-1-1007. Ambulance districts (a) To own, maintain, and operate ambulances and other vehicles and equipment necessary for the provision of emergency medical services in said district; (b) To provide emergency medical services by employees of the district, to provide a voluntary ambulance service, and to make contracts with individuals, partnerships, associations, or corporations or with other political subdivisions of the state or any combination thereof. For the purpose of this paragraph (b), "voluntary ambulance service" means an ambulance service which is operating not for pecuniary profit or financial gain and no part of the assets or income of which is distributable to, or enures to the benefit of, its members, directors, or officers. (2) An ambulance district may be composed of only one county of the state or a portion thereof or two or more contiguous counties of the state or portions thereof, and the district shall consist of contiguous territory within such county or counties. No ambulance district shall be established in any area in which there is a fire protection district or a health service district that is providing an ambulance service or in any municipality that is providing an ambulance service.