PREPAREDNESS FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE

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Emergency preparedness can be defined as preimpact activities that establish a state of readiness to respond to extreme events that could affect the community. It establishes organizational readiness to minimize the adverse impact of these events by means of active responses to protect the health and safety of individuals and the integrity and functioning of physical structures. As indicated in Chapter 3, emergency preparedness is achieved by planning, training, equipping, and exercising the emergency response organization. That is, members of the LEMC establish the basic plan, annexes, and appendixes of the jurisdiction’s EOP, train members of the emergency response organization to perform their duties, and test the plan’s effectiveness with emergency exercises. They must also acquire the facilities, equipment, and materials needed to support the emergency response. Finally, the LEMC should develop comparable organizational structures, plans, and preparedness for the disaster recovery phase. Recovery preparedness will be addressed in Chapter 11.

Emergency planning is most likely to be successful when it is viewed, either explicitly or implicitly, from a systems perspective (Lindell & Perry, 1992). This entails an understanding of the goals of the emergency response, the resources of the community as a system, and the functional interactions of the different units within the system. The primary goal of the emergency response is to protect the health and safety of the emergency responders and the public. In addition, the emergency response should protect public and private property and the environment, as well as minimize the disruption of community activities. The resources of the community include trained personnel, and emergency relevant facilities, equipment, and materials. The units of the system are the elements that take action (households, governmental agencies, private organizations), while organizational functions are defined as the “most general, yet differentiable means whereby the system requirements are met, discharged or satisfied” (DeGreene, 1970, p. 89). In the case of emergency response organizations, the description of system functions can then be elaborated into operational event sequences and component processes that include the identification of job operations, together with personnel positions and their associated duties (Kidd & VanCott, 1972; Buckle, Mars & Smale, 2000). In the conceptual design stage of a system, analysts define broad constraints that human limitations are likely to exert on system operation. As the system design develops in detail, the analysts develop correspondingly more detailed statements of the requirements for personnel qualifications and training, workgroup organization, workspace layout and equipment design, and job performance aids (Chapanis, 1970; Lindell, et al., 1982).

Such analyses are typically applied to the normal operations of complex technological systems such as high performance aircraft and the control rooms of nuclear power plants, but they also can be applied in similar form to the problems of community emergency planning. Whether a novel technological system is being developed for use in a normal environment or a novel social system such as an emergency response organization is being developed to respond to an unusually threatening physical environment, the rationale for systems analysis is the same—the opportunities for incremental adjustment through trial and error are extremely limited. The analysis of a social system conducted for an emergency management program must first identify the range of hazards to which a given community is vulnerable and the demands that the hazards would place upon the community.

The often expressed opinion “every emergency is unique” is true but the usual conclusion “we can improvise during an emergency rather than plan beforehand” does not follow. It is true that emergency responders must always improvise to meet the demands of a specific situation, but it is important to understand that there are different types of improvisation—reproductive, adaptive, and creative—that differ from organizational continuity (continuation of normal organizational routines) and organizational contingency (implementation of an EOP (Wachtendorf, 2004). Specifically, reproductive improvisation responds to a deficiency (e.g., failure of a siren) by using a substitute (e.g., police officers going door-to-door) to achieve the same emergency response objective. Adaptive improvisation involves modifying normal routines or contingency plans to achieve operational goals. In this context, “adaptive” only means a change, not necessarily an improvement. Creative improvisation responds to an unanticipated disaster demand by developing a new course of action.

It is important to recognize that improvising and implementing response actions takes more time than implementing preplanned actions—and time is usually very limited in an emergency. Moreover, improvisations can impede or duplicate the response actions of other organizations. For example, Perry, et al. (1981) reported that firefighters fed and sheltered flood victims because neither they nor the victims knew about a mass care facility that had been activated not far away. Consequently, emergency managers should develop community emergency preparedness so they can limit the amount of unnecessary improvisation even though they cannot eliminate improvisation altogether.

In fact, research has identified many regularities in the demands emergencies place upon response organizations (Dynes, 1970; Drabek, 1986; Tierney, et al., 2001). Emergency managers should identify the functions that must be performed to respond to these demands and the resources required to accomplish the response functions. The resources required for emergency response can then be compared with those maintained within the community. Any special actions required to ensure the continued availability of the emergency response resources can be made an integral part of the emergency preparedness program.

One very important aspect of the systems assessment for emergency response operations arises from the environmental conditions that prevail during major disasters. At such times, response personnel often confront confusing and conflicting cues about the current status of hazard agent and its impacts, as well as major uncertainties about the future behavior of the hazard agent and impacts yet to come. During the 1979 nuclear reactor accident at Three Mile Island and the chemical plant accidents in 1984 at Bhopal, India, and in 1985 at Institute, West Virginia, the inability of plant personnel to accurately assess the status of the emergency severely impeded their ability to communicate appropriate protective action recommendations to offsite agencies. A similar inability to conduct timely and accurate assessments on the Mt. St. Helens volcano led to casualties and property destruction. In all of these cases, the complexity of the situation—together with time pressure and the severity of the potential consequences—created conditions that were unforgiving of error and, thus, highly stressful for emergency response personnel.

To increase organizational effectiveness when there is enough time to respond, but not enough time to improvise a coordinated response plan, communities must engage in emergency preparedness. A major component in emergency preparedness is the development of preimpact EOPs that provide emergency responders with the resources they need to take prompt and effective response actions. This chapter will examine EOP development, emphasizing that plans are only a part of preparedness. The primary focus is on the planning practices of local agencies having explicit emergency response missions (e.g., emergency management, fire, police, and EMS). The chapter begins with the guiding principles of emergency planning and then turns to a discussion of the supporting analyses needed to adapt the plan to local conditions. It continues with an examination of the principal organizational structures involved in emergency preparedness—the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS), and National Incident Management System (NIMS). The latter is implemented through the Incident Command System (ICS) and the jurisdiction’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The chapter concludes with a discussion of preparedness by households, businesses, and government agencies that do not have explicit emergency management missions.