Fairfax County Emergency Operations Plan

Overview

Integral to any community's preparedness standing is the emergency management plan. Depending on the community, the plan can have a number of different titles: emergency management plan, emergency operations plan, mitigation plan, or all-hazards mitigation plan.

Regardless of the title, the plan must meet all of the requirements of the Department of Homeland Security's Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101, "Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans" and Guide 201, "Threat and Hazards Identification and Risk Assessment Guide" in the plan's hazard analysis.

Preparedness programs and their contained plans must adhere to the nation's federal-level regulatory drivers, such as the Stafford Act, and must be constructed with an understanding of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act in order to be fully interactive with the national emergency management structure.

This integration with the national structure provides large benefits in funding, training opportunities, and federal support throughout all portions of the community's emergency management program.

This project is the creation of a white paper that analyzes the Fairfax County Emergency Operations Plan (2015) and the portion of the Northern Virginia Hazard Mitigation Plan (2017) pertinent to Fairfax County, VA. The white paper study will critique the plan for its compliance with federal standards and guidelines.

This project will cover the following outcomes:

Evaluate community emergency management plans for their compliance with applicable federal agency guidelines

Assess real-world hazard and threat analyses for the extent to which they comply with applicable federal agency guidelines

Evaluate community disaster awareness plans for their efficacy in ensuring communities' abilities to appropriately respond to and mitigate disasters

Evaluate community emergency management plans for their use of resiliency planning in ensuring the ability to continue essential functions during disaster events

Develop instructions and standard operating procedures that assign specific tasks to working group members for ensuring efficient emergency management plan construction and maintenance

Prompt

Review and analyze the selected real-world county emergency management plan. Based on your review and analysis of the plan, construct a white paper study that critiques the plan for its compliance with federal standards and guidelines.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Introduction

Provide an overview of the selected emergency management plan, including the size of the community for which it is written, the type of plan, the date it was developed and any revision dates, and the key emergency topics covered in the plan.

II. Federal Agency Guidelines

A. To what extent do you feel the selected plan complies with the requirements of the National Preparedness System? Be sure to explain your reasoning behind your judgment.

B. To what extent do you feel the selected plan complies with the tenets of the National Incident Management System? Be sure to explain your reasoning behind your judgment.

C. Focusing specifically on areas in which the selected plan is NOT in compliance with these guidelines and requirements, whether full or partial, analyze the negative impact the noncompliance might have on the community with regard to its emergency management plan.

D. Based on your response above, provide appropriate suggestions for improving the plan's compliance.

III. Hazard and Threat Analyses

A. Evaluate the community profile in the plan's hazard and threat analysis for weaknesses or areas that could be improved. If you were the community emergency manager, what suggestions would you make for remediating those weaknesses or areas of improvement? If the hazard and threat analysis does not contain a community profile, what process would you employ to develop one?

B. What are the components of FEMA's Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) process, and why is this important to communities in emergency management planning? Be sure to substantiate your claims with evidence and examples.

C. To what extent do you feel the selected plan's hazard and threat analysis followed the THIRA process? Be sure to explain your reasoning behind your judgment.

D. What capability targets have been established in the selected plan's hazard and threat analysis? Why is it important for communities to include capability targets in the hazard and threat analysis? If the hazard and threat analysis does not contain capability targets, describe the process you would utilize to establish them.

IV. Disaster Awareness

A. What role does disaster awareness planning play in ensuring communities can respond to and mitigate disasters? Be sure to substantiate your claims with evidence and examples.

B. To what extent do you feel the plan's disaster awareness planning meets the community's needs? Be sure to explain your reasoning behind your judgment. If the plan does not address awareness planning, suggest measures you would take as the community emergency manager to correct this deficiency.

C. Analyze the plan's provisions for mass warning notification. Are they sufficient to meet the community's needs? Be sure to explain your reasoning. If the provisions are not sufficient to meet the community's needs, or the plan does not contain these provisions, what recommendations would you make for remedying the situation?

D. Analyze the plan's use of the concepts of whole-community planning. In other words, what steps has the plan taken to ensure the involvement of all stakeholders in the planning process? What steps has the plan taken to ensure the community's ability to respond to and mitigate disaster events?

V. Future Considerations

A. What is resiliency planning and why is it an important component of community emergency management plans? Be sure to substantiate your claims with evidence and examples.

B. To what extent do you feel the selected plan incorporates elements of resiliency planning to sufficiently meet the community's needs? If there is a deficiency in this regard, what action would you take to correct it?

C. What implications does FEMA's most current budget have on this community's resiliency planning? In other words, what potential effects might the budget have in terms of the community's ability to effectively deal with potential disasters?

VI. Guidelines

A. In the construction, maintenance, and revision of emergency management plans, an emergency management working group is essential. Who are the key community stakeholders you would include in the emergency management working group for this community and its plan? Be sure to explain your reasoning.

B. What are the specific tasks you would charge the working group with for the maintenance and revision of the selected plan? Be sure to explain your reasoning.

C. To what extent do you feel the selected plan engages members of the private sector (i.e., businesses and service providers) with regard to plan construction, maintenance, and revision, and how did you arrive at your determination? If you feel the private sector is not adequately engaged, what recommendations would you make for remedying the situation?

Guidelines for Submission: Your white paper should be 15 to 20 pages in length, not including a title page and references page. It should be formatted in 12- point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins and all citations should follow current APA formatting guidelines.