Twelve-Hour Strategic Objectives Plan

Introduction

Disaster response and recovery involves the participation of many individuals and agencies to adequately manage the variety of complex issues arise during an event. Whether you are managing a natural or man-made disaster, the system to manage the incident is similar. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides the framework for the involved agencies and experts to work together to manage the response to an incident.

NIMS calls for the use of an emergency operations center (EOC) as a place for interagency coordination and response to major incidents. The use of an EOC allows for a consistent approach for decision-making and coordination of the many organizations involved in the response. By understanding the roles within an EOC and their functions, you will be more valuable to the emergency response efforts and contribute to the resolution of the incident.

The media piece, Riverbend City: Emergency Operations Center, linked in Resources, includes natural disaster and terrorism scenarios; you will develop a twelve-hour strategic objectives plan to respond to one of these situations. You will submit the plan in memo form. Memo templates are linked in Resources for your convenience; you may wish to review them before you begin.

For this assignment, you will assume a staff role in an EOC and choose the natural disaster or terrorism attack scenario to begin response planning.

The purpose of this assignment is to guide your understanding of how interagency coordination, resource management, and emergency operations plans (EOPs) are beneficial during the management of a disaster.

Note: There is no "right" way to complete this assignment, which is reflective of real-world critical thinking and decision-making in the EOC. However, your objectives and decisions must be based on the strategies listed in the EOP.

Instructions

1. Construct this assessment based on the natural disaster or terrorism situation from the Capella media piece, Riverbend City: Emergency Operations Center.
   • Pay attention to the types of issues that arise during the discussion within the EOP staff.
2. Identify your role as one of the staff members: incident commander, operations section chief, planning section chief, or logistics section chief. Your position is located in the EOC and part of an interagency group that is tasked with managing emergency response for one operational period.
   • After identifying the issues, refer to the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan to clarify your understanding of how emergency personnel plan to address similar problems.
3. Using the perspective of your chosen role in the EOC, write a 1.5–2 page memo for a twelve-hour strategic objectives plan that responds to your chosen scenario. Structure your memo with these headings:
   • EOC Role:
     • Summarize (briefly) your emergency operations management role and how the position relates to the other command positions.
   • Objectives:
     • Construct four primary strategic objectives for the next twelve-hour operational period.
   • EOP Application
     • Apply the strategy in the EOP to support objectives 1–4.
     • Indicate the EOP strategy that supports each of your objectives. Describe the objective, personnel needed to accomplish the goal, and alternatives that may be taken to accomplish the goal.
   • Response
     • Summarize elements of an EOP that address interagency response activities in the field.
     • Summarize the agencies or service organizations and functions that may assist with response activities in the field.

Additional Requirements

• Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics. Use spell-check and grammar-check to check your work before submitting this assignment.
• You are required to submit your paper to Turnitin. Once you review your results and make any needed changes, submit your paper for grading.

Note: Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information.