MissionMode Corporate Blog

Emergency operations planning vs disaster planning

The Critical Incident Management blog has posted an article about the difference between emergency operations planning and emergency preparedness in the healthcare industry.  In fact, many corporations outside of the health care industry have the same misunderstanding of the difference.

The fact is that developing an emergency operations plan (EOP) is simply one component of an effective emergency management program to insure preparedness. In the healthcare industry, there are two different scenarios that must be addressed: 1) the organization serves as response agency or 2) the organization must prepare the instance where they are a victim of the incident.  The EOP must address both of these circumstances.

The EOP is a concept document that can be thought of as a leadership guidebook to manage the consequences of a disaster that delineates what response operations and functions will be performed or achieved by what department, agency, or organization and under what circumstances.  The EOP is not a detailed reference document to be used as a standard operating procedures manual by response personnel during a crisis.

There are 15 basic issues that are important when developing the healthcare EOP:

• Notification - an emergency notification system that alerts the existence of the disaster and continues to inform throughout the management of the crisis.
• Decontamination - Who, where and how the decontamination will occur.
• Facility physical protection - in addition to the actual victims, expect asymptomatic, possibly exposed individuals, to also present for care.
• Evacuation - must be prepared to rapidly evacuate, identifying the transportation sources and receiving facilities.
• Shelter-in-place - if there is no time to evacuate, existing facility must be prepared to manage the load.
• Detection - usually the weakest link in emergency management and response, several methods of observation must be available.
• Identification - Detection is different from identification; identification determines the response path.
• Triage - standard triage methods will have to be modified if the entire community is affected.
• Treatment options - depending on the health risk being addressed, the options will vary
• Surge capacity - measures that allow increasing capacity if needed.
• Prophylaxis - who will be the recipient of actions to prevent or address disease.
• Fatality management - resource management (facilities, personnel, etc.) for mass-fatality internment procedures
• Counseling services - responders and employees, as well as victims, will need counseling assistance, maybe even more so than other medical needs.
• Horizontal and vertical integration - integrating health services with other local or regional response organizations.
• Law enforcement and incident forensics - from identifying criminal acts to maintaining chain of custody, law enforcement will be involved throughout all phases.

For the full article, read more...

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The value of crisis communication

Since the economic crisis began to impact the world economy, many businesses have enhanced and expanded their crisis communication strategies with the hope of alleviating the fears expressed by workers and to project corporate confidence to clients and shareholders.

In late 2008, consulting firm Watson Wyatt reported that survey results indicated 77% of employers had nor were planing to send out internal communication addressing the impact of the financial crisis. Sixty-nine percent of those businesses stated that reducing employee anxiety was one of their top two goals for crisis communication and 32% are attempting to capture employee trust.

The Institute for Public Relations states that crisis can come in the form of these three threats that are often related:

• Public safety risks
• Financial losses
• Damage to a reputation

This article makes further recommendations for emergency planning, targeting the following areas:

• Employees - explain how the crisis will affect their jobs
• Management - provide all the information managers need to protect the interest of the company, employees, clients and vendors
• Public - tell the public how the company is managing business affairs during the crisis and how it may affect the community
• Customers - to avoid damaging relationships, let customers know how products and services will be delivered during the crisis
• Government - in case it is necessary to interface with governmental agencies determine if assistance might be needed to continue business activities
• Other companies - it may be necessary to communicate with other businesses to inform them how the crisis may impact their business as well.

For more information, read the full article.

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Welcome to the MissionMode blog

We want to make sure you have the best, first-hand knowledge of crisis management, incident management and emergency notification news. We welcome any comments or feedback that you may have.

Don't let the crisis take control of your business. Take control of the crisis with Missionmode.

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Omniflight Helicopters selects MissionMode Solutions

Omniflight Helicopters Inc., a leading national provider of air medical services, has chosen MissionMode Solutions as its virtual command center and alert notification platform for both daily operations as well as for crisis management, incident management and emergency notification.

Omniflight recognized that MissionMode is able to enhance their communications functions and the delivery of emergency-related information to those in need within their operations.  "MissionMode's solutions both reduce our ongoing operational costs as well as strengthen our service provision."  Read the full story...

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Unconventional Cooperation

The September 2009 issue of Security Management has a cover story on Event Management about how Denver established a public-private partnership through which business, government and private-security entities could work together during the Democratic National Convention (DNC).

In a remarkably well-planned coalition effort, the Denver Police Department, businesses in the private sector and several security company worked together to support the city's emergency operations center (EOC).  Communication links were set up using an emergency notification system developed by MissionMode.

With the help of the Department of Homeland Security, preparation began with training with various courses for the private-sector security managers.  The training was thorough and included the fundamentals of security methods taking place both in the classroom and at the potential on-site targets for problems during the convention.

The Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership (CEPP) was established in the spring of 2008.  The biggest issue recognized by CEPP was the gap between what businesses would do and what the public-safely sector would do during the DNC.  It was during a DNC tabletop exercise that this lack of communication became painfully obvious.  Fortunately, Robert Edson, MissionMode Solutions' vice president for the western US, was in the audience and was able to step in with the perfect solution using their customizable web-based information-sharing and crisis management tools.

The result was the Business Emergency Operations Center (BEOC), a secure, virtual, invitation-based online forum where all participants in the security activities would receive instant alerts from the EOC and be able to respond with appropriate feedback, keeping everyone fully informed.

Conclusions and challenges

The biggest challenge was the coordination of communication between the two sectors, the police department and the private sector security businesses.  The major communications hurdle between the public-private partnership was overcome quickly through the arrangement between the CEPP and MissionMode.  In addition, the partnership reached out to the DHS to provide the necessary training to the private-sector security officers at no cost to the participants.

The result of this well-planned crisis preparedness effort was a resounding success during the DNC.  The BEOC is still activated from time to time for events such as wildfires, responding to the swine flu and during major civic events.  The program has a large membership of business and security partners in the Denver metro area.

As successful as this operation was, the challenge facing Denver now is maintaining a level of preparedness once the convention was over.  "The most challenging aspect is just getting people involved when there's not a major situation that's doing down," says Lt. Rob Rock of the Denver Police Department.  People just "want these systems to run in the background" until they're needed, he notes.  Read the full article.

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Security we can believe in

The Business Executives for National Security (BENS) announces the success of the Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership (CEPP), a partnership facilitated by BENS to make the Democratic National Convention a successful -- and safe -- event.

The CEPP preparedness plans help with everything from providing 60,000 bottles of water for the spectators to engaging with local, state and federal agencies in emergency management and response efforts.

Another note of success:  the CEPP Alert, a free subscription service provided in cooperation with Denver Police and MissionMode, a crisis management and emergency notification technology company, sent real-time emergency alerts directly to cellphone and other handheld devices to the appropriate Denver agencies to support the event.

Read the full Update Newsletter from BENS.

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New text alert system should be in place by DNC

"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."  This is the motto for the Colorado Emergency Preparedness Partnership (CEPP).  The CEPP is launching an website to help citizens be a part of Colorado's emergency planning effort.

Launched in time for the Democratic National Convention in August, the CEPP is making sure that any emergencies that present during the convention are managed in a timely and safe manner.  The goal is for everyone involved to be prepared for any situation that could arise whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made emergency.

For more on this new system, read the article, New text alert system should be in place by DNC.

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