Principles ofEmergency Planning

David AlexanderUniversity College London

Emergency planningis not

rocket science...

...it's a matter of common sense...

...and organisation!

The essence of disaster management:-

To tackle pressing needs withmaximum efficiency and speed butwith scarce resources and in theabsence of necessary information

BUT emergency planning is a young field that lacksinternational consensus on standards, procedures,the legal basis and institutional arrangements.

Major eventmanagement

Incidentmanagement

Population(community)protection

Hazardforecasting,monitoring,etc.

Plans,procedures,protocols

Human andmaterialresources

Emergencyenvironment

Emergencyprocedures

Emergencyco-ordination

plan

Spontaneousimprovisation

The need for emergency planning:

• a serious lack of trained personnel,materials, equipment and time

• decisions must be made rapidly

• information is a prime need

• inefficiency in disaster planningmeans avoidable damage and casualties

• emergency assistancecannot be well improvised.

The main objective of the plan is toinform, instruct and direct participants

about what procedures andemergency resources to use.

13 principles ofemergency planning

Principle no. 1

In an emergency the theatre ofoperations is always the local area.

Local organisation and emergency planningare fundamental and indispensable.

QU

AN

TIT

Y

TIME

needs

local self-help

imported assistance

unmet needsReduce unmet needs

Increase local self-sufficiency

Rationalise imported assistanceand make it more timely

The challenges of emergency planning

Volontarysector:

support andintegration

Privatesector:

integration

Disaster

Municipality or other local authority: emergency operations

Province, region, state, county:co-ordination, assistance

Nation: policies ofcompatibility, harmonisation

and co-ordination

International:exchange and support

A hierarchyof emergency

plans

Micro-emergency

Disaster orcatastrophe

Macro-emergency

Meso-emergency

Singlemunicipality

Severalmunicipalities

Regionalcoordination

Nationalcoordination

Microemergency: natural oranthropogenic events that canbe tackled using the resourcesand managerial skills of a singleorganization or authority without

major changes in procedures,materials and manpower

Catastrophe: natural,technological or social

disasters that are largeand serious enough torequire extraordinary

measures which are beyondthe scope of local and many

regional authorities toprovide and direct

Macroemergency: naturalor anthropogenicevents that are large enough to requireconcerted action by more than one authority or organization

Local incident Local response A

Threshold of local capacity

Small regional

incidentCo-ordinated local response B

Threshold of intermunicipal capacity

Major regional

incident

Intermunicipal and

regional responseB

Threshold of regional capacity

National disaster

Intermunicipal, regional

and national responseC

Threshold of national capacity

International

catastrophe

Ditto, with more

international assistanceC

Aid from outside the disaster area shouldreinforce, not replace, local initiatives.

Main objectives: develop a state of localself-sufficiency and maintain public order.

The bedrock level is the local authority:higher levels of government should supportand harmonise local emergency responses.

Principle no. 2

In emergency planning efficiencyis measured in terms of lives savedand damage avoided or contained.

supply

demand

timeDisaster

supply

demand

time

urban

SAR shortage

Disaster

shortagereduced byefficient

mobilisation

Principle no. 3

The most efficient emergency preparednessinvolves generic, all-hazards planning.There should be only one plan and it

should be written in clear, simple language:ambiguity can be dangerous.

Synthesis:abbreviated

plan

Details:data,

annexes,appendices

Generalised Detailed

Plan:structure

SUDDEN-IMPACT DISASTER OCCURS

TOWN CENTRE

MUNICIPAL EMERGENCY

OPERATIONS CENTRE

- in the Town Hall

ASSEMBLY POINTS

AND AREAS

----- Building

----- Street

----- Square

----- Street

----- Building

----- Square

Immediately

the crisis

beginsTHE MAYOR

- goes to the Emergency Operations Centre

- makes contact with the regional authorities

- sends personnel to assembly areas

EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION DIRECTORS

- go to the emergency operations room

EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION OPERATORS

- go to the emergency operations centre and

follow the orders of the Mayor

MUNICIPAL WORKERS

- Group A meets in --------- Street in front of Town Hall

- Group B goes to the principal assembly area

VOLUNTEERS OF THE "----- GROUP"

- take control of the assembly areas

THE POPULATION

- is led to the public assembly areas

THE MUNICIPAL POLICE FORCE

- takes control of key points in the centre of town and

directs the population to the assembly points

- sends situation reports periodically by radio

to the emergency operations centre

Principle no. 4

An emergency plan is an instrumentthat is best created and maintainedby a qualified emergency plannerand is usually best housed in an emergency operations centre.

Principle no. 5

The plan should be clear aboutwhere, when and to whom it applies.

It should specify thelimits of its jurisdiction.

Principle no. 6

The plan should conform to regional,national and international laws on civilprotection, environmental management,

health and safety, and so on.

Principle no. 7

Plans should be compatible between levelsof government, sectors and functions.

Plans should be integrated for governmentagencies, hospitals, industrial sites,airports, commercial concerns, etc.

NATIONALEMERGENCY

PLAN

REGIONAL ANDCOUNTY ORPROVINCIAL

EMERGENCY PLANS

MUNICIPALEMERGENCY

PLAN

MUTUALASSISTANCE

PACTS

AIRPORT ANDTRANSPORTEMERGENCY

PLANS

HOSPITALAND HEALTH

SYSTEMEMERGENCY

PLAN

INDUSTRIALAND

COMMERCIALEMERGENCY

PLANS

CULTURALHERITAGEEMERGENCY

PLAN

Disaster inthe medical

centre

Disaster inthe externalenvironment

Disasterin the systemof medicalcentres

Disasterplanning forthe medical

centre

Disasterplanning forthe externalenvironment

Disasterplanning forthe medical

system

CoordinatedEMS Disaster

plans

Functionaldivisions:government,healthcare,commerce, etc.

Hierarchicaldivisions:national,regional,local, etc.

Geographicaldivisions:catchments,jurisdictions,areas, etc.

Organisationaldivisions:police, fire, ambulance,etc.

Divisionand

integration

Principle no. 8

The plan should focus on saving lives andreducing damage by matching urgent needs

with appropriate available resources.

Realism is necessary in emergency planning:it is wrong to plan to use resources

that are not available.

Principle no. 9

Plans should be based on referencescenarios of what is likely to happen.

Scenario methodology involves rigorous,formal investigation of probable chains ofdamaging events, plus their consequences

and what actions will be needed.

Emergency planning should be aboutprocesses, not merely numbers.

evolution

developmentof thescenarioevolution

timezero

formal evaluation of theoutcome of the scenario

consequencesat time n

Scenariomethodologyin emergency

planning

consequencesat time 2

consequencesat time 1

referenceevent

initialconditions

evaluation ofthe progress

of the scenario

historicalanalysis

hypotheticalingredients

Likely event:use referencescenario

Planning:

Improbable event:use genericprocedures

Cascading effects

Collateral vulnerability

Secondarydisasters

Interaction between risks

Climatechange

Probability

Indeterminacy

"Fat-tailed"distributionsof impacts

How did this...

Emergency planning forwhat magnitude of disaster?

...become this?

SMALL SMALL

LARGE

Physicalimpact

Humanconsequences

LARGE

Pedestrians only

Cordon III for traffic

control Multi-agencyoperationscommand.

Publicassembly area

Rescuers'assembly point

Points ofaccess tocordonedoff areas

Onlyrescuers

Cordon I

Only authorisedpersonnel Cordon II

Incident

Bronze - operations

Silver - tactics

Gold - strategies

[Diamond - policies]

UK: 3 commands, 4 levelsPolice - Fire Services - Medical Services

LEAD GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT

Media

Centre

Media

Liaison

Point

Temporary

Mortuary

Survivor

Reception

Centre

Receiving

Hospitals

Relatives’

Reception

Centre

Local Authority

Emergency Centre

Strategic Co-ordinating Group

Police Local authority

Fire Military forces

Ambulance Government advisors

Other agencies

Strategic

level

Voluntary

Agencies

Casualty

Bureau

Public

enquiries

OUTER

CORDON

Body

Holding

Area

Ambulance

Loading

Point

Casualty

Clearing

Station

Vehicle

Marshalling

Area

Incident Control Point

Police

Fire

Ambulance

Liaison

Tactical

level

INNER CORDON

Site of Disaster

Police

Fire

Ambulance

Specialist advisors

Operational

level

Time

Resp

onse

Emergencyisolationphase

Majorincidentdeclared

Consolidationphase

Recoveryphase

Investigation

Stand-down

FuneralsDebriefings

AnniversariesPlan revision

InquestsPublic enquiries

TrialsAwards

MemorialsTraining

Court cases

Anatomy of a major incident

Locus ofcontrol

Locus ofcollaboration

(support)

Tension ofopposites

Commandfunctionprinciple

Supportfunctionprinciple

Spectrum ofalternatives

Two models of organisationof civil protection services

Command function principle: allocatingtasks according to level and objectivesof decision-making (strategic, tactical, operational).

Support function principle: allocatingtasks according to functional sector(e.g. communications, logistics, utilities).

Principle no. 10

The emergency planner shouldconduct a census of resources

available for managing crisis situations.

Construction of operationalscenarios of hazard, risk, impact

and emergency response

Existence of various statesof hazard and vulnerability

Census ofavailable resources

Plan of action foremergencies

Proc

ess

es

of c

onst

ant

adapt

ation

of t

he p

lan

Principle no. 11

Planning is about ensuring that everyparticipant has a valid role in the

emergency response and is aware of theroles of other participants, especially

those from other organisations.

The essence of emergency managementis to be able to appreciate what other

agencies are doing or are expected to do.

This requires a common language and acommon culture: it also requires goodinter-organisational communication.

Broad professional training in emergency management

Professional experienceand training

Disciplinary training(e.g. bachelor's degree)

Commonculture

Commonlanguage

Commonobjectives

Principle no. 12

The emergency plan should apply to allphases of the 'disaster cycle' and shouldaim to provide sustainable civil protection.

Sustainable emergency management:-

• is centred upon the local level(but is harmonised from above)

• has the support andinvolvement of the population

• is based on plans that are fullydisseminated and frequently revised

• is a fundamental, every-day servicefor the population and is taken seriously.

Principle no. 13

An emergency plan should be a livingdocument that is widely disseminatedand frequently tested and revised. It

should be the property of all participants.

Anatomy of an emergency plan

The emergency planning procedure:-

• research: carry out initialstudy and collect data

• writing: create a plan,appendices, annexes

• publicity: make the planknown to all participants

• operations: test the plan with fieldexercises, simulations, scenarios

• updating: revise the plan.

Fundamental components of the plan:-

• resources

• structures and organisations

• networks

• procedures

• tasks assigned.

Local emergency resources:-

• personnel and manpower

• vehicles and heavy plant

• equipment

• materials, consumable supplies, fuel

• institutions and organisations.

• services

Other emergency resources:-

• mutual aid pacts and agreements

• regional and national resources.

• military assistance tocivil communities (MACC)

Basic elements of the emergency plan:

• the participating organisations

• command structures

• communications channels

• emergency response procedures.

The ingredients of an emergency plan (1):

• explain the problem

• scenarios of hazard, vulnerability,risk and impact

• inventory of available resources

• command centres and support functions

• describe monitoring, prediction andwarning systems and procedures.

• assign tasks to emergency workers

• communications protocols and procedures

• procedures for various eventualities(breakages, interruptions andunexpected problems)

• training and education initiatives.

The ingredients of an emergency plan (2):

Conclusions

Revision

Exercising Evaluation

Activation Disaster

Preparatory study

Dissemination Information

Creation andupdatingof plan

Stakeholders'opinions Training

Apparentchaos

Result

Feedbackand revision

Feedback

and

revision

EvaluationTesting

Disaster

Plan

Model

ResultsOperations

Procedures

Plans

Policies

Command systems• operations centres• task forces• communications• chains of command

Incident

Contingency planning inthe pre-emergency phase (days)

Emergency responseplanning

Permanent emergency plan

Operational planning

Short-term strategicplanning (hours → days)

Short-term tacticalplanning (hours)

Recovery andreconstruction

planning

Strategic,tactical & operationalplanning

Aftermath

Disaster

Monitoringprediction& warning

Permanent emergency plan

Business continuity plan

Emergency planning and managementshould be

fully programmed activitiesbased on a good estimation and accurateknowledge of probable needs, but with

improvisationto cope with unexpected developments:

we must reinforce the plannedactivities and reduce the improvisation.

David.Alexander@ucl.ac.ukemergency-planning.blogspot.com

On your phone: m.slideshare.net/dealexander

Available from Amazon