Jocelyn Augustino/FEMA

Get your helmet, it’s game time. An emergency has struck and you’re in charge.

Trained staff or alternates are in place and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) manager addresses the disaster dealt by Mother Nature or that of man. Since an EOC typically is found in a designated area within a facility, a disaster may cause it to become inoperable. An alternate site should have been identified in the mitigation and preparedness phases of the Emergency Management (EM) cycle. Most corporations identify these existing facilities to mirror that of the primary. Remember, an EOC is not an Incident Command Post (ICP), but an operations center where coordination and resource management decisions are facilitated. A mobile trailer or truck combination may be utilized as an ICP if your organization chooses this viable option in establishing a venue near the disaster site.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

The usual lack of information provided by local officials and local media often force management to make groundbreaking decisions upon the onset of a disaster. Only in textbooks does the EOC manager obtain all of the needed details to make informative decisions. An experienced manager can receive partial details of an incident from reliable and seasoned personnel and make it work. This is what you are paid to do. Time management is crucial since the recovery phase can begin after the immediate threat to human life subsides. As long as senior management can determine the severity of the damage, a sufficient disaster recovery operation can be initiated through your response. Initial decisions made by senior management will help shape the environment to bring your organization closer to its Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs).

Each situation is dynamic, and, therefore, response issues usually remain consistent in nature. Local, county or state law enforcement are likely to close down major roads and highways during bad weather conditions or in a case of a terrorist event. Predetermined conditions exist and are  routinely applied by public safety agencies, and, therefore, must be factored into your Business Continuity Planning (BCP). EOC team members should respond to a predetermined location that has been carefully selected for its size and relative safety. Personnel working at the affected facility can address the crisis and notify off duty personnel to respond. All personnel—regardless of their position in the firm—should be familiar with a  simple standard operating procedure (SOP) of the organization’s activation levels for them to follow based on the emergency presented.

Staffing of personnel

The EOC manager should dispatch individuals with the appropriate skill sets needed to address the type of emergency. EOC members can be notified via phone, text message or phone tree, which can refer them to an EOC activation checklist, where they can obtain further instructions.

The application of a proper scheduling system should be implemented almost immediately based on your organization’s activation level. The old A/B shift works fine in a pinch, which assigns equal personnel to a 12-hour shift. If this doesn’t work for your EOC staff, leave a skeleton crew for the late shift to ensure continuity of operations—again, with the proper mix of skill sets. However, during the first 24 hours of the emergency, your team should be ready to stay for the night since relief personnel may not be able to get to the EOC. Your team will need more than a go bag for this one. Sleeping bags, cots, bottled water, energy bars, etc. should be pre-packed and accessible to your team.

Tasking individuals to work long hours under high stress and different working conditions can become counterproductive. The bottom line is to ensure that personnel receive adequate rest so they don’t burnout and/or make a fatal mistake.

Role of the Incident Command System (ICS)

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) the FIRESCOPE ICS is primarily a command and control system delineating job responsibilities and organizational structure for the purpose of managing day-to-day operations for all types of emergency incidents. Today, ICS is used nationally by both public safety and private sector emergency managers under the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

NIMS provides any corporation the flexibility to both activate and establish an organizational format simultaneously based on the needed ICS functions to be performed.  ICS provides private sector EOC staffs with a standardized operational structure and common terminology that it shares with its public safety counterparts. It allows the private sector to interface with public officials on an even playing field in addressing common efforts such as communication and resource allocations. Assigning a skilled Liaison Officer (LNO) to coordinate and interact with these agencies is a must if not already part of your Disaster Recovery Program (DRP). These reestablished relationships with the public safety community will ensure your business not only has a presence at the scene of a disaster, but a voice for your concerns. Remember: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” You need to have an individual on the ground to identify what is the prioritization of resource allocation and assistance that may be provided by first responders from various agencies.

Information management

A supportive EOC provides a strategic overview (big picture) of a disaster for its organization. The EOC not only manages response and recovery efforts, but it collects and processes a high volume of information as well. This needed information has to be verified, evaluated and acted upon through resource allocation for each event. That way event information can be properly managed and response activities can be controlled. An efficient EOC should use software to perform various functions such as event alerts, incident logging, taskings, resource allocation, briefings and documentations.

Operational functions

Once the initial chaos subsides it will become the responsibility to ensure smaller problems are controlled.

In the days following a large-scale disaster, it will be necessary to sustain your operations, ensuring proper command, control and communications (C3) are flowing throughout your organization. The EOC is the link to the rest of the organization as a whole to make sure senior management’s decisions are being met to ensure its continuity. An EOC should be able to provide the organization it serves at a minimum with the following functions:

Command and Control

Clear Communications both internally and externally

Function as a Virtual EOC

Track Events through Status boards and Logs

Resource Management

Documentation of response efforts

Tracking Vendor Support Activities

The virtual EOC

A Virtual EOC (VEOC) functions as an adjunct to a physical EOC—whether supporting a primary or alternate location. Although selected primary staff members should be present at the physical EOC, other team members can be in contact with the EOC. This allows individuals to remain working in their regular job title to address the corporations standard business functions while at other locations.

According to All Hands Consulting, VEOCs can help widely distributed managers triage problems and track the deployment of resources, response teams and other capabilities according to plan, so as to resolve the incident. VEOCs use a variety of technologies and communications as well including: Internet, intranet, VPN, Radio over IP (ROIP), satellite and cellular to name a few.

This alternative enables senior management to receive current information from the field that allows them to make informed decisions. Departmental heads and line managers can operationally re-task subordinates by receiving feedback from senior management.

VEOCs are cost effective and are compatible with most software products used in the operation. Report and plans implemented by a company can be easily retrieved by utilizing this Web-based software.

Recovery

Since some recovery efforts overlap with the incident response phase, they often continue beyond the life of initial response functions. EOC staffing should be reduced at this point in order to address the organization’s recovery efforts.

EOCs become re-tasked as a project office to coordinate and manage  resources with contractors to bring the company back online. Keeping the organization focused on its mission in conjunction with restoration activities is a proven factor ensuring your organization remains resilient through any crisis.

This article only provides a brief snapshot of the many response and recovery efforts that an organization must orchestrate when a disaster strikes, but should provide you with a few helpful resources that may assist you in disaster recovery.

EOCs: All Hands Consulting

ICS Structure: FEMA

NFPA: Note NFPA 1600 and DRII’s BCP  has combined their two standards into 1600-2010 edition, which includes ICS specifically.

VEOCs: Virtual EOCs

Christopher M. Carroll/DVIDS

The relief is on the way to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and yet, according to some, aid is not coming in fast enough.

We’ve heard that story before.

Alexander Pope’s famous quote from his poem Criticism, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” is lesson one that must be addressed in this disaster, as security issues begin to spiral out of control.

At this juncture of the response and recovery phases, we cannot afford to rescue the rescuers. Rescuers face the threat of aftershocks and violence as fear grows to panic.

At present, the Haitian National Police are nonexistent and ineffective due to manpower constraints and lack of resources. Although nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), such as the American Red Cross and World Emergency Relief, have diverse experiences in disaster relief activities in high-risk areas, they often require mutual security and support requirements when conducting a unified action.

In September 1994, the U.S. military provided some similar support functions to Haiti in a United Nations sanctioned operation to return Haiti’s deposed president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to office.

“Joint Task Forces (JTFs) 180 and 190 of the U.S. military stabilized the country by securing cities and the countryside by disarming the Haitian military,” according to the U.S. Army Field Manual 3-0, Operations.

The U.S. military has conducted support operations in countries like Somalia, Rwanda, Dominican Republic and Kosovo in order to provide needed humanitarian aid.

Four food distribution sites are being set up at the time of this writing, which makes them even more difficult to protect.

Military commanders on the ground are mitigating security mishaps by conducting risk assessments, assigning adequate personnel to critical assets, such as inbound resources to the country of Haiti.

Force protection measures for both military and civilian personnel will become risky business. Security personnel’s duties at distribution centers will include identifying workers, managing supply lines, and providing safety and security for relief workers as they hand out supplies. Establishing an effective security posture will be challenging as desperate Haitians arrive in droves at the distribution sites.

Many governmental agencies and organizations will be responsible in providing humanitarian relief and disaster recovery efforts simultaneously to re-establish Haiti’s critical infrastructure.

Until the United Nations and supporting military forces are able to provide Haiti with adequate security stabilization by establishing pockets of safe havens, disaster recovery efforts cannot be undertaken properly.

International security forces must deploy en masse and take on responsibilities of protecting relief workers and the entire population from lawlessness.

To create the conditions for long-term recovery, security forces must re-establish order and create safe areas throughout the country that will allow the people of Haiti to receive the much-needed medical treatment and essential services.

Tom Carey, The Klaxon’s military liaison, contributed to this report.

Under the emergency action plan, an emergency is any of the following: chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosion, suspicious packages, natural disasters, blackouts, building collapse and workplace violence.

Each one of these emergencies has an equal chance of occurring in an office building environment. Therefore, emergency managers must be prepared for any of them.

All hazard plans, or emergency action plans, are required by law in many (if not all) jurisdictions and must cover response protocols.

Training also is required by law and includes staff and occupants. For instance, in New York City, buildings that are required to have an emergency action plan must conduct training and drills every year once the Fire Department of New York has accepted the plan. The question always comes down to who should do the training—an insider or an outside vendor.

There are pros and cons of each; however, in my experience, when using a vendor, the participants tend to be more receptive.

Response training always starts with the basics. In an office-building environment, emergency response is as easy as PIES:

Partial Evacuation
In-building Relocation
Evacuation
Shelter in Place
Partial Evacuation
A partial evacuation is just what it sounds like, only a specific area or floor(s) will be evacuated. Generally, it is the room or area that is affected—as well as the floors above and below—depending on the type of incident.

The occupants that are at the most risk of harm will be evacuated first, but emergency managers must be aware of contamination issues. Within the plan, emergency managers must know what to do with victims that are contaminated without placing everyone else at risk, including first responders.

In-building Relocation
An in-building relocation occurs when occupants are asked to move from their workspaces and into a more secured area.

This area is a pre-designated area that offers protection away from windows. For example, a suspicious package has been discovered a few doors down and the police are on the scene.

If the device detonates, windows may be blown out for blocks, so it is safer for the occupants to be tucked away inside of the core of the building which offers more protection.

Evacuation
The decision to evacuate the entire building is a decision reserved for senior-level management with a clear chain of command, unless directed to do so by first responders.

The call for evacuation may also come from a fire marshal or building inspector. If the emergency manager conducted the mandated training sessions, the building evacuation should be less disorganized, chaotic and fearful.

Unless specifically told by the fire department, all occupants should be directed to the nearest staircase. All occupants should be reminded that the roof is not a designated exit.

The response at the fire in Macy’s Herald Square, in New York City, Dec. 20, started off as a partial evacuation of the building and quickly turned into an evacuation of the entire store.

Emergency managers have to be prepared to switch from one type of response to another.

Fires in commercial establishments, such as the one at Macy’s, present another serious problem for emergency managers – customers are not prepared to deal with emergencies.

Shelter in Place
Sheltering in place requires occupants to stay at their desks and await further instructions because something outside is dangerous—there is contamination in the air or some sort of release that may prove harmful if inhaled.

Occupants should be instructed to close the blinds and pull down any shades. The individual responsible for the operation of the HVAC system will shut it down.

Sheltering in place, however, may cause a problem for some occupants. The emergency manager cannot stop someone if that person wants to leave, but they can prevent them from returning.

Occupants must be told that if you leave, you will not be allowed back in because of the risk of contamination to others.

Emergency managers must stay current on response protocols and the hazards that may affect them.

Testing and training of the plan is of paramount importance. Training occupants on what to do in an emergency will save lives; but, unfortunately training is time consuming and costly.

Training and exercises will reduce disorganization and, therefore, reduce injuries, property damage and death.

This is where the emergency manager must step in and convince management that proper training is a necessity in dealing with everyday hazards that may take place in the office building setting.

Remember, it is better to mitigate than to litigate.

Columbine, Virginia Tech and most recently the Fort Hood massacres have left police departments across America struggling to decide on what proper response protocols and tactics should be deployed in active shooter cases.
These questions have stirred debate among police officials for the better part of a decade as the public continues to demand immediate actions by police.

However, each incident is dynamic. There are no “cookie-cutter” molds that can be used for every situation.

Responding to an “active shooter” situation is the ultimate quagmire for responding officers: Do they wait or do they rush in?

Some law enforcement executives believe the job should be left up to the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) or Emergency Service Units (ESU). Ideally, these units have the most training, correct weaponry (patrol rifles or shotguns), better equipment and the proper mindset. They would appear to be a practical solution to this ever-changing problem.

However, the problem lies in waiting for these special units to respond when officers are already present at the scene.

‘Stopwatch of Death’
To illustrate this point, law enforcement consultant Ron Borsch created a model to compress shooting incidents in order to find a tactical solution to this growing problem. Borsch calls it “The Stopwatch of Death.”

The Stopwatch provides a reliable unit of measurement to determine the scale of one active shooter incident relative to another (Number of murder attempts / Number of minutes = X).

His formula is based on the number of murder attempts over the number of casualties (either killed or injured by a bullet) and divides that number of minutes within which the shooting takes place.

A proponent of Borsch’s model is Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, a West Point psychology and military science professor, who claims the model points can save lives.

“At a minimum, one officer can delay and disrupt the killer, as in the recent Salt Lake City mall shooting,” he said.

This was seen when Department of Defense Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley and Senior Sgt. Mark Todd intervened by firing at alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nadal Hasan until he was taken into custody by Todd.

Recently, in New York City’s Times Square area, New York City Police Department Sgt. Christopher Newsom was fired upon with a MAC 10 machine gun when he attempted to place the suspect under arrest.

The perpetrator, Raymond Martinez, fired twice before his gun jammed, which allowed the Newsom an opportunity to incapacitate him.

This incident could have been much worse, as the perpetrator had an additional 27 bullets in the magazine.

Shooter Preparedness
As we analyze these incidents and apply Borsch’s model, we learn that the perpetrators of mass violence are extremely prepared. In the Columbine massacre, students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris carefully planned their violent event by identifying locations where students would congregate in mass.

They did this to improve their kill ratio. These individuals noted that there would be approximately 500 students present in the high school’s cafeteria after the first lunch period.

According to Jennifer Rosenberg in her article “Columbine Massacre,” “They planned to plant propane bombs in the cafeteria timed to explode at 11:17 and then shoot any survivors as they came running out.”

Fortunately, the bombs failed to explode. However, Klebold and Harris had set up a decoy bomb, which exploded several blocks from the school, diverting police resources away from school grounds.

At about this time, these individuals began their rampage by firing indiscriminately at students and throwing small bombs and Molotov cocktails. They then returned to the school cafeteria and attempted to detonate a 20-pound bomb, but failed.

The rampage finally ended when Klebold and Harris shot themselves.

We were horrified by the actions of Hasan at a military processing center at Fort Hood, Texas.

He was able to shoot and kill 13, injured an additional 30 soldiers and two civilian police officers. Hasan not only received quality marksmanship training given to him by the U.S. Army, but executive-level planning and operations classes as well.

Since he was stationed at Fort Hood, Hasan was familiar with the processing center and the Army installation. He knew that the Military Police patrols would be spread thin throughout one of the the Army’s largest installations. He also knew his fellow soldiers would be unarmed. He also counted on the fact that there would be virtually no security measures at the Soldier Readiness Center.

Hasan, like Dylan and Klebold were insiders.

Are You Going In?
Time is of the essence when dealing with an “active shooter” situation.

The days of setting up a perimeter to contain the situation and wait for SWAT, ERT or ESU are over.

I have to agree with Dave Spaulding’s article, that going in to deal with the active shooter situation is a personal choice especially in a suburban or rural area.

I learned long ago from the Army’s value system that Selfless Service isn’t just another value in today’s military but a way of life. This value is prevalent in the law enforcement community as well.

No one knows for sure how they will react when called upon to do so. It’s just part of the job. As a result, using the selfless service value smartly can save lives.

One additional point that needs to be addressed is when and if these situations change from an active shooter type incident to a hostage barricade.

To effectively deal with this type of situation would require a management decision to shift tactics to isolate and containment and await the response of SWAT and properly trained hostage negotiators.

If patrol personnel are securing a door or an area in the inner perimeter, they should be immediately relieved by SWAT upon their arrival and be redeployed to the outer perimeter for support functions (security, traffic, media control, etc.).

Louis J. Rapoli, a consultant with Peregrine Training Services, contributed to this report.
Infographic of infamous active shooters

Infographic/The Klaxon

The “Art of War” by Sun Tzu has been used over the centuries to teach everything from warfare to marketing and selling products. Emergency Management is no different. From fires to terrorism, the “Art of War” contains strategies that emergency managers (EM) can adopt and put into practice.

Response

“Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.”

Whenever disaster strikes, the public expects some sort of response and rescue.

The response can come from the building’s EM, the local police and, in extreme cases, the National Guard. Their job is to protect life, property and maintain order. However, when responding to any emergency, the EM must first evaluate the extent of the incident.

A rash decision to move quickly into an emergency can be deadly. EMs don’t want to have to rescue the rescuers. This is the point that is often most criticized by “Monday Morning Quarterbacks.” Move too soon and the EM risks the entire operation; move too late and the costs can be insurmountable.

“The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.”

The response phase often is chaotic and EMs must maintain a disciplined span of control. If the plan was tested during “peaceful” times, then everyone should know his or her roles. This makes the chaos a little more controlled because the EM knows “who is where and doing what.” Therefore, the incident commander must be a strong leader and a good communicator.

“In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack—the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.”

EMs often are faced with the tough decision on how to approach the response to a disaster. This problem is often associated with what to do first.

The primary response in any disaster is to protect life by rescuing those that can be immediately secured and then attending to the situations that can cause more hazards. Remember: Not everyone can be rescued at the same time.

Recovery

“In respect of military method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory.”

During recovery, there are two main focuses: to return the community (or business) to normalcy, and to mitigate against future occurrences. Unfortunately, after an incident, the EM has the ability to establish a new focus on mitigation based on how bad the event was or how bad it could have transpired.

The lessons learned, better known as the After Action Report (AAR), can provide the information that is critical to balance the chances of fairing better in the future against the same type of event.

Before an EM can ever think about a “victory” against a particular hazard, he or she must carefully examine how the event unfolded, measuring each step that was taken during the planning and response phases.

Even though the “Art of War” was written centuries ago for generals during wartime, it holds an important significance in the role of the emergency manager. Identifying potential hazards and mitigating against them is a constant battle. EMs prepare for these battles in two ways: experience and education.

Experience is often the best teacher, but also the cruelest. Sometimes EMs don’t get a second chance. Like Sun Tzu, the EM does not know when or if the “enemy” will attack, but the EM will be prepared for him.

Read the mitigation and preparedness section of this article here.