Discussion 1 Communications

Competencies Addressed in This Discussion

Introduction

Emergency planning requires that personnel are able to provide and maintain operable and interoperable communication before, during, and after declared disasters. At times needs go beyond what local and state authorities can provide. FEMA has a national plan in place for Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) using Mobile Communications Office Vehicles (MCOVs).

FEMA's Disaster Emergency Communications Division has a small central staff, six geographically dispersed MERS, and a fleet of MCOVs. The purpose of this division is to the meet the needs of emergency managers and help coordinate operations during a critical incident. A main focus to provide multi-media communications when local communications are compromised or inoperable.

Instructions

Your community is in the middle of a disaster and communication from the incident command centers is compromised. In your main discussion post:

Support your answers with researched resources, including your text.

Discussion Objectives

The competencies addressed in this discussion are supported by discussion objectives, as follows

Response Guidelines

Respond to two other posts. Are you seeing a complete picture of what MERS can do for a community? Would you have different considerations that would influence your decision? Why or why not? Would you choose different types of telecommunications? Why or why not? You may use opinion, but if any facts are used, you must cite the sources.

Resources

Discussion 2 Strategic Analysis

Competencies Addressed in This Discussion

Introduction

There are several steps to strategic analysis in emergency planning:

"The goal of emergency planning is community preparedness. The scope of tasks for emergency preparedness is guided by response capabilities. These activities also overlap mitigation and recovery strategies. The ability to mitigate affects the way we respond to disasters; high levels of mitigation reduce the need for emergency response. High levels of community preparedness and response capabilities shape the needs for recovery planning. The connections between all emergency management tasks are reflected in the planning process and the emergency operations plan (EOP)" (Perry & Lindell, 2007, p. 267).

The above quote is a great explanation of just how interrelated are all phases of emergency planning. While disasters are devastating and often tragic, they also provide information that can be used for strategic analysis that will allow emergency plans to be evaluated and revised. As you can see, opportunities for mitigation continue through all phases of emergency planning.

Reference

Perry, R. W., & Lindell, M. K. (2007). Emergency planning. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Instructions

Your community has gotten through the disaster and now is the time to figure out what worked and what did not. The emergency management team is doing a full strategic analysis using the six steps (see Introduction). For this discussion you are going to focus on addressing issues in mitigation planning (step 5).

Choose one of the following areas to address in the discussion:

In your main post:

Support your answers with researched resources, including your text.

Discussion Objectives

The competencies addressed in this discussion are supported by discussion objectives, as follows

Response Guidelines

Respond to two other posts. Give your assessment of the feasibility of the measures proposed by your peers. Do the benefits balance the costs? Are the proposed measures justified? Why or why not? You may use opinion, but if any facts are used, you must cite the sources.

Resources