InfoGram 2-11: January 13, 2011

This InfoGram will be distributed weekly to provide members of the Emergency Services Sector with information concerning the protection of their critical infrastructures. For further information, contact the Emergency Management and Response - Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) at (301) 447-1325 or by email at emr-isac@fema.dhs.gov.

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Regionalization Initiatives

(Sources: The Journal and Department of Homeland Security)

Having recognized their shortcomings, some counties have initiated corrective action by coordinating resources across county lines in the attempt to regionalize their critical infrastructure and key resources. They have accepted that many all-hazards events would likely overwhelm their existing assets. For example, the Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) learned the leaders of Berkeley County and Frederick County, in Virginia, recently signed a jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction mutual aid agreement according to The Journal.

Their reciprocal agreement includes fire service, emergency medical services, and hazardous materials (HazMat) responses between the two counties. "The only expense is if either county's HazMat team responds to an accident across the county line, the county where the incident happened will pay for the other county's HazMat response expenses." With this new arrangement, each county's insurance will cover their own emergency services personnel if they respond across the county line.

The EMR-ISAC acknowledges that "regionalization" can be a superior approach for local, county, and state elected leaders and emergency managers to acquire scarce resources. Joining with other communities to develop regional plans and response packages of personnel and equipment significantly improves the interoperability and effectiveness of mission-essential assets and systems. Additionally, pre-existing agreements and written plans that specify roles, payment, incident command, etc., will enhance thorough collaboration and synchronization among the responding organizations within a region.

See sub-chapter 4.1 at page 12 of the National Preparedness Guidelines (PDF, 560 Kb) for more information about regional collaboration.

Enhancements through Fire Corps

(Source: National Volunteer Fire Council)

Fire Corps is a federally-funded program under the Citizen Corps initiative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Administered on a national level by the National Volunteer Fire Council, Fire Corps encourages community members to assist their local fire and Emergency Medical Services departments with non-operational tasks. "This assistance allows emergency departments to increase their capacity and expand their services, while at the same time enabling the first responders to focus more of their time on training and emergency response activities."

The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) confirmed the program allows community personnel to utilize their skill sets and interests to perform any number of non-emergency tasks based on the needs of the department. Some examples include assisting with training efforts, such as playing "victims" in mock incidents with injuries; assisting with administrative tasks; conducting community and public relations; developing and maintaining web sites; providing life safety education in the community; fundraising and grant writing; equipment and apparatus maintenance; mapping and pre-planning; etc.

Fire Corps members can also provide general support such as developing and maintaining a database of residences where citizens with special needs or considerations are located, and another database that identifies and updates the locations of vacant or abandoned properties.

More information about Fire Corps can be seen in the Citizen Corps brochure (PDF, 1.4 Mb).

Incident Command System

(Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency)

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Incident Command System (ICS) is a standardized, on-scene, all-hazards incident management approach that facilitates the following actions:

• Allows for the integration of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organizational structure.
• Enables a coordinated response among various jurisdictions and functional agencies, both public and private.
• Establishes common processes for planning and managing resources.

The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) noted that ICS is flexible and can be used for incidents of any type, scope, and complexity. ICS helps users to adopt an integrated organizational structure to match the complexities and demands of single or multiple incidents. It is applicable for all levels of government, across disciplines, and within the private sector.

On a related matter, the EMR-ISAC received notification that the National Incident Management System (NIMS) ICS Forms Booklet (PDF, 5.6 Mb) has been recently updated and released. The booklet assists emergency response personnel in the use of ICS and corresponding documentation during incident operations. It is also meant to complement existing incident management programs and does not replace relevant emergency operations plans, laws, and ordinances. The forms within the booklet are intended for use as tools for the creation of Incident Action Plans, for other incident management activities, and for support and documentation of ICS activities. They are designed to include the essential data elements for the ISC process they specifically address.

Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101

(Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency)

Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101 (Version 2) (PDF, 1.8 Mb) provides guidelines on developing emergency operations plans (EOPs). It promotes a common understanding of the fundamentals of risk-informed planning and decision making to help planners examine a hazard or threat and produce integrated, coordinated, and synchronized plans. The goal of CPG 101 is to make the planning process routine across all phases of emergency management and for all homeland security mission areas.

The Emergency Management and Response—Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EMR-ISAC) discerned that this Guide helps planners at all levels of government to develop and maintain viable all-hazards, all-threats EOPs, which are connected to planning efforts in the areas of prevention, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation. Version 2.0 of the Guide expands on these essentials and encourages emergency and homeland security managers to engage the whole community in addressing all risks that might impact their jurisdictions.

CPG 101 is the foundation for state, territorial, tribal, and local emergency planning in the United States. Planners in other disciplines, organizations, and the private sector, as well as other levels of government, should also find this Guide useful in the development of their EOPs.