Emergency Preparedness:
Is Your Agency Ready?
Each state, and many local governments, have developed Emergency
Operations Plans. A few of the topics covered in the Colorado
state plan include: roles and responsibilities of local,
state and federal governments; sequence of emergency operations;
administration; mutual aid and state assistance available
to local governments. Hazards covered in the plan include
wind, winter storms, wildfire, tornado, terrorism and flood.
A copy of the Colorado State Emergency Operations Plan
can be obtained at http://www.dola.state.co.us/oem/Operations/plan/html-files/cover%20-%20rev5.htm,
or by contacting the Colorado Office of Emergency Management
or the Colorado LTAP office.
Reasons Local Governments Should Undertake a Comprehensive
Emergency Management Program
- Hazards, there are no “hazard-free” communities
- Moral obligation to protect citizens and property from
disaster impacts
- To comply with statutory requirements
- To enhance community-wide
emergency preparedness and public safety
- To reduce governmental
liability
- To reduce losses and prevent costly errors
Elements of a Comprehensive Emergency Management Program
- A
baseline local capacity to manage disasters and large-scale
emergency events
- A flexible and sustainable system for
managing all types of emergencies
- An all-hazards emergency
operations plan
- A public education program that promotes
hazard awareness and community preparedness
- A hazard mitigation
program to prevent disasters or minimize their effects
- A strategic plan that outlines a flexible strategy for
managing a variety of hazards
The following list addresses how you might better prepare
your department and agency to deal with a disaster emergency:
-
Do you have a contact list for key personnel (work/home
phone, cell, pager)?
-
Is there an evacuation plan with designated
assembly areas so that you can get a personnel count?
Has it been exercised?
-
Does your agency have a physical security
plan and a designated security officer?
-
Have all of your
key personnel (elected and appointed) been trained in
how to respond to and recover from a disaster
emergency?
-
Have you identified the critical sites/facilities
within your agency that might be a “show stopper” if
rendered inoperable?
-
Has someone conducted a vulnerability
assessment of those critical sites/facilities and proposed
actions that would
reduce those vulnerabilities?
-
Have you identified your
agencies critical, essential and necessary functions
and prioritized those for restoration?
-
Is there an established
milestone schedule for restoration of those services?
-
Do
you have an alternate facility designated with a plan
to move operations from damaged facilities?
-
Is there a management
structure in place for both the response and recovery
phases of a disaster emergency?
-
Have you documented all of the
above in a planning document, and have you trained
your staff on the
plan?
-
Have you conducted an exercise to validate
your plan, and/or identify and correct
deficiencies?
-
Do you have mutual aid agreements with other state agencies
who might assist in restoration
of critical
services, and
have they been exercised?
Additional information that might assist you in your planning
efforts can be obtained from the following Emergency Management
organizations. For more information on the State Emergency
Management Training Program contact Stephanie.Meetze@state.co.us.
Colorado Office of Emergency Management
15075 South Golden Road
Golden, Colorado 80401-3979
Office: (303) 273-1622, Fax: (303) 273-1795
http://www.dola.state.co.us/oem
Colorado Office of Preparedness, Security, and Fire Safety
15055 South Golden Road
Golden, Colorado 80401-3971
Phones: (303) 273-1680 /(303) 273-1681
Fax: (303) 273-1688
E-mail: ops@cdps.state.co.us
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
500 C Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20472
Phone: (202) 566-1600
http://
www.fema.gov
FEMA: Colorado Division
Region VIII
Building 710, Box 25267
Denver, CO 80225-0267
Phone: (303) 235-4800, Fax: (303) 235-4976
http://www.fema.gov/regions/viii
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