By Robert A. Mitchell
Assistant Chief - Operations, Reedy Creek Emergency Services
How do you Mitigate, Prepare, Respond, and Recover in an area that provides emergency services to an extremely large tourist community? That is the challenge faced everyday in several locations around the world. I have firsthand knowledge regarding one district/agency in Central Florida and will discuss several aspects of our Emergency Management (EM) process. Due to privacy constraints I can not disclose the specific district we protect, however I believe that we offer a unique prospective on EM.
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At this point let's make sure we're on the same page as to what Emergency Management is by following the model below:
Emergency Management is a four step process:
Mitigation: The process of preventing or lessening the impact of all hazards.
Preparedness: The process of planning for all hazards.
Response: The process of requesting and managing resources during all hazards.
Recovery: The process of recovering from all hazards.
In Central Florida one of the greatest challenges is what to do in the event of a hurricane, so we began our comprehensive EM plan there. Prior to this point, as with many agencies, there was a "meet at the pole" plan. Fortunately we rapidly progressed from that into a hurricane plan; where to stage, where to move agency personnel, how to up-staff, etc. However, over the last 10 years it has become very clear that in addition to natural disasters a number of man-made emergencies also occur and need to be dealt with, such as large scale auto accidents on the interstate that runs through the district. These can be Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI's) and/or Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) situations. Other emergencies include industrial accidents or failures and other high volume MCI incidents due to the very large transient/tourist population we serve. These include elevated rescues, collapses, entanglements, etc. Keep in mind that these populations change location over the course of a 24 hour period, moving from areas of entertainment to hotels and interstates. Emergencies whether natural, man-made, or acts of war place extraordinary strains on all levels of government. Often, the man-man emergencies in our district are chemical in nature and due to their magnitude and location have a large number of potential victims. Demands for services immediately escalate, while the ability to deliver these services decreases. Flexibility and improvisation are key elements to success in these cases.
Mitigation and Preparedness starts at the Executive Level. The Executive level exercises the highest authority for establishing emergency services organization, disaster planning, and implementation of emergency operations plans and provision of emergency services for disaster operations. This level consists of District Administrators, Commissioners, Attorneys and various Agency heads such as Emergency Services/Fire Department, Administration and Utilities. This is an ongoing process that never really ends. The players at this time are the aforementioned stakeholders; they control the money and as a group evaluate the risk versus gain of providing certain services and to what extent. Everything has a cost, and it is at this level and during this phase that those expense determinations are made. An example would be deciding what needs to be adjusted in our plan: Have we set aside enough money in the event of an emergency? Have we identified where we can pull that money from? How do we afford to demolish or rebuild if necessary?
Continuing on to Preparedness and Response, the Operations Level now comes into play. The Fire Chief or Emergency Services Manager is appointed Director of Emergency Operations and is delegated the authority for preparing and implementing the emergency plan, for purposes of control and training and to insure that a qualified shift/watch commander is on duty at all time. The Operations level is responsible for the overall implementation of the Emergency Operations Plan. Members of this level include the Director of Emergency Operations, Fire and Rescue, Medical Services, State and Federal Emergency Aid, Emergency Welfare Services Emergency Purchasing, Utility Services and Public Information. During this phase the "action" starts, evacuations are effected, personnel are recalled and assigned, staffing levels are determined and smaller operational adjustments are made to the Emergency Action Plan.
Moving through Response and Recovery is accomplished at the Field Assessment and Organizing Level. Members at this level include Building Inspectors and Officials, Engineering Inspectors, Fire Inspectors, Fire, Rescue and EMS, Public Services, Clerical and Secretarial Services and Utility Services. This level assesses the problem areas, establishes priorities and assigns appropriate workforces. The workload demand may necessitate co-mingling of various departments' employees. Where possible, at least one member of the workgroup should have some expertise in the work associated with the problem. At this point the questions begin: How bad off are we? What do we need to do immediately? How can we return to normal? Clearing roads, making areas safe, restoring critical services such as power, water, phone service and moving guests and residents back into the area all take place during this phase.
Finally, Recovery and Mitigation are the portion of EM that is most forgotten; when we can fall back into a sense of complacency or ease. Typically this phase is the longest and/or most variable because we cannot predict the duration. In our district, this phase is turned back over to the Executive Level. This is the time when the seeds of preparedness germinate based on the emergency that has occurred. This is a time to raise all the questions we can: How do we do it better, faster, stronger and more efficiently? Of course we will never have all of the answers, and there will always be ways to improve, however this dynamic process is really what Emergency Management is all about. Similarly to the Preparedness Phase, Mitigation if correctly done never really ends. Many questions are asked at this time in order to improve the whole process. However asking questions does not fix challenges. All of these questions need to be answered and those answers transition us back to Preparedness.
In closing, our district and the major taxpayer located there, move large volumes of people daily. In most cases they do it better than anywhere else on earth. They have tremendous resources available and are eager to work with us on Emergency Management Planning. We have some type of mass interaction drill with our major taxpayer on a monthly basis. Their involvement is critical and it is no different in your community. While this has been a brief run through of our Emergency Management process, we are always refining and redeveloping our process as well as our plan. One of the best things you can do for yourself, your agency and your community is to constantly review and revise your EM plan, and to drill on it frequently.
About the Author
Robert A. Mitchell, FPEM, IC/PM, BPM currently serves as an Assistant Chief of Operations at Reedy Creek Emergency Services / Fire Department. Serving various communities around the country he started his career in 1980 as a cadet and has never left emergency services. Chief Mitchell's experience includes service with the Dept of Homeland Security, Dept of Health & Human Services, Orange County Sheriff's Office and Reedy Creek as a Firefighter, Dive Medical Technician, Paramedic, Planning Section Chief, Logistics Section Chief, Safety Officer, and Area/Incident Commander. During Chief Mitchell's career he received is Associates Degree in EMS from Valencia Community College in Orlando, Fl., an undergrad degree (BS) from Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, Fl., and is currently working on his graduate degree. Chief Mitchell has also lectured nationally and internationally and a variety on Fire Service, EMS, and Child Abuse issues.