Canton on Emergency Management

What Do You Really Know About Disasters?

Last week I was asked to participate in a conference by a government agency seeking to improve its emergency plans. One of the main areas of interest for the agency was identifying research topics that could help improve their plans. I'm not sure why I was invited but fortunately there were a number of well-regarded academics in the audience.

When agency representatives gave the results of their "literature review" we were stunned to learn that they had essentially ignored over fifty years of research into emergency preparedness and response in the social sciences. They just didn't realize it existed.

That got me thinking that the same is really true for a lot of my colleagues in the public and private sector as well. It certainly was for me until a few years ago. We began our professional training at a time when you pretty much learned "on the job" and transferred skills you had acquired in other professions. Consequently, a lot of what we think we know about disasters and how people deal with them is at odds with what research suggests really happens.

Emergency management is still very much an emerging profession. It's only recently that we have seen the emergence of degree programs and academic journals dedicated to our profession. Much of the research that forms the knowledge base for our profession is scattered through academic journals in many disciplines, such as sociology, law, public administration, history and scientific disciplines. This makes it even more important for us as emergency management professionals to have at least a general understanding of this specialized body of knowledge. For our clients and the people we serve, we are their only gateway to this information.

So what can you do about it? I suggest starting with Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United States by my friend Kathleen Tierney and her colleagues Michael Lindell and Ronald Perry. They summarize sociological research up to about 2000 in way that is easily accessible to non-academics. I can almost guarantee you'll be surprised at what you don't know. I'd also consider a subscription to the Journal of Emergency Management or the on-line Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. These can be a bit intimidating, as they are peer reviewed academic journals, but I think you'll find worth your time.

A Lesson in Reputation Management or A Bard's Revenge

As a consultant, I read a lot of newsletters and blogs related to my areas of interest or expertise to try and stay current. One of my favorite commentators is Jonathan Bernstein, of Berstein Crisis Management, Inc. I highly recommend his newsletter and blog.

 

His latest post shows what can happen to your reputation if you truly anger a person who writes songs for a living.

http://bernsteincrisismanagement.blogspot.com/2009/07/united-breaks-guitars-wrong-way-crisis.html

Enjoy!

 

Lu

Who Runs Your Emergency Operations Center?

A colleague on the International Association of Emergency Managers list recently asked this question. I foolishly thought that I could dash off a quick reply. Instead I found myself doing one of those mini-research projects that keeps me up later than anticipated and earns me a sigh from my long-suffering wife.

The question was specifically about job titles. Here's my reply:

There’s no real definitive answer to this – it really depends on how your EOC is organized. FEMA’s EOC Management and Operations course identifies four possible methods of organization: organizing by major management activities, Incident Command System (ICS) organization, functional organization, or organizing as a Multi-Agency Coordinating System (MACS). There are many other possibilities, I’m sure. This organization in turn depends on how your EOC functions. In some jurisdictions, it is a coordination point. Others view it as a command post serving as an area  command. Still others use a hybrid of the two.

 

As far as I know, there's no generally accepted term for the peson in charge. NIMS is silent on the subject, although the guidance does discuss the role of the EOC under MACS rather than ICS. The FEMA course suggests the following, althoughthey are not specific titles:

 Organing by major management activities - Emergency Manager

1. ICS organization - Command (not Incident or Area Commander - these are on scene structures)

2. Functional organization - Operations Management

3. Organizing as a MACS - MAC Group Coordinator

The ancient CPG 1-20 Emergency Operations Centers refers to the “EM Director” while the updated drafts I have seen refer “EOC Managers” in a brief reference in the training section but does not define an operational structure.

 

My suggestion is that if you are using your EOC to direct operations, use the ICS terminology. If you are using it to coordinate and support operations, consider using EOC Manager or MAC Coordinator. For what it’s worth, the term we use in California is EOC Director. I would personally avoid using “EOC coordinator” since in California the “EOC Coordinator” handles the administrative support to the EOC (e.g. catering, janitorial service, IT support, etc.)

 

You can find California’s guidance on EOC management at http://www.oes.ca.gov/Operational/OESHome.nsf/PDF/SEMS%202006%20Guidelines/$file/EOC-OAHandbk-Mgmt.pdfBe aware that it is eight years old.

 

There’s also a more in depth discussion on the functions of the EOC in Chapter 9 of my book, Emergency Management: Concepts and strategies for Effective Programs.

July 2009 Newsletter

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