State of Alabama: Emergency Operations Plan

An Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) has been described as a plan which describes who is supposed to do what, at what time, with what nature of resources. EOP also describes the direction or authority responsible. All these are before the emergency, in the course of an emergency, and even after an emergency has occurred (FEMA, 1996). There are local EOPs and State EOPs. The Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) for the State of Alabama (AEMA, 2012) is a document which consists of five major parts: the basic plan, emergency support functions (ESFs) Annexes, support annexes, incident annexes, and appendices. The basic plan comprises of 11 parts which include introduction and purpose, planning assumptions and considerations, incident management activities, EOP organization, roles and responsibilities, the concept of operations, incident management actions, training and exercises, preparedness and plan management, EOP implementation guidance, and authorities and reference. The document has been prepared to guide the management of emergencies due to disasters. According to Bumgarner (2008), disasters can be classified into three: natural hazards (geological, meteorological, hydrological, biological), technological hazards (hazardous materials, dangerous processes, devices and machines, installations and plants), and social hazards (incidences of terrorism, crowd incidences, warfare).

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Basic Plan

Introduction and Purpose: The document specifies that the Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) is the county government agency legally tasked with management of emergencies including planning, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The mission of AEMA being coordination of response efforts to meet the disaster survivors needs, provision of timely and accurate information of incidences to key State decision makers, implementation of the State Emergency Operations Plan as directed by the Governor, and coordination of all recovery efforts including all Federal disaster aids. The purpose of the plan is to act as guidance and policy, effective utilization of government resources, and outline state as well as local government responsibilities. Further, the plan helps in the coordination and integration of emergency management plans for both the state and the Federal government.

Planning Assumptions and Considerations: This part describes the various hazards which could result in emergencies or disasters. There is an analysis of hazards which are likely to affect the state. A list of all the possible natural hazards and technological hazards is presented with their risk index as well as the level of impacts. There is also a list of assumptions. One of the assumptions is that disasters may strike at any time resulting in varying degrees of human suffering, damage, death, injury, property damage, and economic hardship to businesses, individuals, the federal government, and state government.

Incident Management Activities: This section describes responses (emergencies and levels of responses), recovery, mitigation, and preparedness. There are various types of emergencies which include flood, thunder, heat, winter storms, drought, lighting, technology disasters, earthquakes, mudslides, landslides, public health events, tsunamis, tornadoes, tidal waves, and wildfires (MEMA, 2016). The nature of emergency determines the type of response chosen. Response levels have been classified from Level I to IV.

EOP Organization: The plan has been organized into two. The first section describes an interface with the National Response Framework (NRF) while the second section describes the National Incident Management System (NIMS)/Incident Command System (ICS).

Roles and Responsibilities: This section describes the roles and responsibilities of the federal, state, and local governments. It also describes the role of the volunteer and private organizations.

The concept of Operations: This describes general issues, directions, and control, continuity of government, continuity of operations, resources, administration and logistics, agreements and understanding, and assistance stipulations.

Incident Management Actions: Various actions taken when there is a disaster has been described in this section. This include notification and assessment, activation, request for assistance, preparedness actions, response actions, recovery actions, mitigation actions, demobilization, and after-action report.

Training and Exercises: There is an emphasis on training and exercises for emergency management personnel. Exercises help in the evaluation of the effectiveness of response to the actual disaster occur.

Preparedness and Plan Management: A concept of preparedness organization which is outlined in NIMS for preparedness as well as maintenance of the EOP. The major issues in this section include plan maintenance and the NIMS Integration Center.

EOP implementation guidance: The plan is to be implemented as issued unless otherwise updated after following relevant processes.

Authorities and Reference: This section is a list of references to various authorities and statutes involved in the drafting of the EOP.

Appendix to Basic Plan

The appendix to the basic plan consists of a glossary of terms used in the document.

Emergency Support Function Annexes

There is a list of 15 ESFs annexed to the basic plan. This includes transportation; communications; public works and engineering; firefighting; housing and human services; emergency management; mass care, emergency assistance; logistics management and resource support. Other ESFs include search and rescue; public health and medical services; energy; oil and hazardous materials response; agriculture and natural resources; public safety and security; long-term community recovery; and external affairs.

Support Annexes

There are ten support annexes in the document: volunteer and donations management, continuity of operations, external affairs, critical infrastructure and key resources, financial management, mass evacuation, private sector coordination, strategic national stockpile, tribal relations, and worker safety and health.

Incidence Annexes

Six incidence annexes are presented including biological incident (pandemic influenza, fish, and wildlife), catastrophic incidence (earthquake, flood, hurricane, severe weather, and severe winter weather). Other incidences include cyber incident, food and agriculture incident (veterinary service and animal care, animal diseases), nuclear/radiological incident, and terrorism incident law enforcement and investigation.

ICS Interface

The EOP describes various levels of integrations within the emergency operations center. This includes an interface with the National Response Framework (NRF) and also with the National Incident Management System (NIMS)/Incident Command System (ICS).

References

Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA). (2012). State of Alabama Emergency Operations Plan. Retrieved from: http://ema.alabama.gov/filelibrary/Alabama_EOP.pdf

Bumgarner, J.B. (2008). Emergency Management: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Federal Emergency Management Plan (FEMA). (1996). Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning. Retrieved from: https://www.fema.gov/pdf/plan/slg101.pdf

Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). (2016). Types of Emergencies. Retrieved from: http://mema.maryland.gov/Pages/typesofemergencies.aspx