DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

 

 


 


New Mexico Higher Education Department

 

 

 

 

 

GOVERNOR’S CAMPUS SAFETY COMMITTEE

Emergency Management Subcommittee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


INTRODUCTION

            What an All-Hazard EOP is

            What an AHEOP is not

            Why you need an AHEOP

                        Comprehensive Emergency Management

                        Planning Process

                        Specific Planning Steps

FORMAT

            Concept

            Components Overview

INTRODUCTION:

 

What an All-Hazard EOP is:

A university/college’s All-Hazard Emergency Operations Plan (AHEOP) is a document that:

Ø      Assigns responsibility to organizations and individuals for carrying our specific actions at projected times and places in an emergency that exceeds the capability or routine responsibility of any one agency, e.g., the fire department.

Ø      Sets forth lines of authority and a line of succession, including pre-authorizations for identified personnel to take action in specific scenarios and organizational relationships, which shows how all actions will be coordinated.

Ø      Describes how people and property will be protected in emergencies and disasters.

Ø      Identifies personnel, equipment, facilities, supplies, and other resources available—within jurisdiction or by agreement with other jurisdictions—for use during response and recovery operations.

Ø      Identifies steps to address mitigation concerns during response and recovery activities.

 

As a public document, an AHEOP also cites its legal basis, states its objectives, and acknowledges assumptions. Copies of the AHEOP are disseminated broadly among administrators and officials.

Remember, Emergency Operations Plans are ‘living’ documents, requiring regular scrutiny, review and update.  An annual schedule to ‘Plan, Train and Exercise’ the AHEOP is a best practice.

 
 
 

 

 

 

 


What an AHEOP is not:

Those who draft an AHEOP must understand what it is not.  An AHEOP does not detail all aspects of the response effort.  It is not a stand-alone document either; it must be interfaced with other local AHEOP’s, e.g. city, county. 

 

Why you need an AHEOP:

Higher education campuses are an integral part of our communities, and many times are cities within cities.  When disasters threaten or strike a university or college, people expect school officials to take immediate action in cooperation with other response agencies to deal with the problem.  The institution, with support from locally available Emergency Management agencies, is expected to marshal its resources, channel the efforts of voluntary agencies and private enterprise in the community, and solicit assistance from other jurisdictions through the local Office of Emergency Management.  The AHEOP provides for the coordination and working relationship with all involved parties during an emergency and establishes the mechanism for requesting state and federal assistance. 

 

Comprehensive Emergency Management

Emergency management responsibilities are categorized into four interrelated actions: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.  A systematic approach is used to treat each action as one phase of a comprehensive process, with each phase building on the accomplishments of the preceding one.  The overarching objectives are to provide for the immediate safety of all persons, stabilize the incident, and make an assessment of essential facilities and lifeline infrastructure.

 

These objectives are designed to minimize the impact caused by an emergency and return the Educational Institution to normal operations as soon as possible.  Basic Emergency Management Principles revolve around these 4 functions:

 

  1. Mitigation- involves lasting reduction of exposure to, probability of, or potential loss from hazard events. 
  2. Preparedness- establishing authorities and responsibilities for emergency actions and garnering the resources to support them. 
  3. Response- time-sensitive actions to save lives and property, as well as for action to begin stabilizing the situation so that the campus can regroup.
  4. Recovery- effort to restore infrastructure and the social and economic life of the community to normal; should incorporate mitigation as a goal. 

This is an ongoing process in which the plan and operations must be reviewed and updated continuously based on identified gaps and changes within the campus environment.
 
 

 

 

 

 


Planning Process

Ø      Don’t Reinvent the Wheel:

If your campus has an AHEOP or other safety plans (Risk Management, Evacuation, Fire Safety, Universal and/or Specific Laboratory Plan, Residence Hall Safety Plan, etc.) they are the place to start.  Existing plans can point the planning coordinator to applicable authorities, perceptions of risk in the community, members of the campus’s emergency response organization, etc.  The planning coordinator should review the existing plans for questionable assumptions, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, omissions, and vagueness.  Critiques of recent emergency response operations and exercise in the campus institution will help the planning coordinator develop a sense of what needs to be done.

 

Ø      Don’t go it alone:

The planning coordinator’s is only one view.  If a coordinated emergency response depends on teamwork, planning for response should also involve the campus’s internal and external emergency “team.” Documentary research should be supplemented by interviews with key officials of the university or college’s organization.  They may have information and insights that the planning coordinator lacks, as well as ideas that can spark creative solutions to problems. 

 

            FEMA recommends a team approach to planning for these reasons:

1.      The AHEOP is more likely to be used and followed if the tasked organizations have a sense of ownership, i.e., their views were considered and incorporated.

2.      More knowledge and expertise are brought to bear on the planning effort.

3.      Closer professional relationships among organizations involved in the planning process should translate into better coordination.

The planning team should be drawn from various groups that have a role or stake in emergency response. 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 


The following is a list of potential team members:

Internal

·   President/ CEO

·   Student Body President(s)- Undergraduate and/or Graduate

·   Campus Law Enforcement or Security

·   Physical Plant/ Facilities

·   Risk Management/ Safety

·   Campus Health Center(s)

·   Special Events

·   Athletics

·   University/College Communications/ IT

 

External

·   Local Fire Department

·   Local Law Enforcement response agencies

·   Local Emergency Manager

·   Public Safety Communications Personnel

 

Specific Planning Steps

  1. Research- vulnerability analysis, review existing plans and resources
  2. Development- identify planning team, determine response support requirements, use of available resources
  3. Validation- educate existing plan, exercise (table, functional, full-scale)
  4. Maintenance- identify gaps, develop corrective action plans and update AHEOP accordingly

 

 

FORMAT:

 

Concept

While the causes of emergencies vary greatly, the potential effects of emergencies do not.  This means that you can plan to deal with effects common to several hazards, rather than develop separate plans for each hazard.  A critical aspect of planning for the response to emergency situations is to identify all of these common tasks, or functions, that must be performed, assign responsibility for accomplishing each function, and ensure that tasked organizations, whether internal or external to the campus organization, have prepared Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Standard Operating Guides (SOGs), and Incident Action Plans (IAPs) that detail how they will carry out critical tasks associated with the larger function.   

 

AHEOPs developed using the functional approach consist of a Basic Plan, functional annexes, and hazard-specific appendices.  These are supplemented by the SOPs, IAPs, and checklists necessary for implementation of the AHEOP.

 

Components Overview

Ø      Basic Plan:

The Basic Plan is an overview/summary of the university/college’s emergency response organization and policies.  It identifies the legal authority for emergency operation, summarizes the situations addressed by the AHEOP, explains the general concept of operations, and assigns responsibilities for emergency planning and operations.

 

Ø      Functional Annexes:

Functional annexes are plans organized around the performance of a broad task.  Each annex focuses on one of the critical emergency functions that the university/college will perform in response to an emergency.  The number and type of functional annexes included in an AHEOP may vary from one school to another, depending on needs, capabilities, and organization.  Since functional annexes are oriented toward operations, their primary audience consists of those who perform the tasks.  They do not repeat general information contained in the Basic Plan.  Core Functions include:

 

Direction and Control

Communications

Warning

Emergency Public Information

Evacuation

Transportation

Care of Evacuees

Health and Medical

Resource Management

 

Ø      Hazard-Specific Appendices:

Hazard-specific appendices provide additional detailed information applicable to the performance of a particular function in the face of a particular hazard.  They are prepared when hazard characteristics and regulatory requirements warrant and are attached to the relevant functional annex(es).  Potential list of Hazard-Specific Appendices could include:

                        Appendix A:     Natural Disasters

                                    A1. Earthquakes

                                    A2. Flood        

                        A3. Hazardous Weather Emergencies

 

                        Appendix B:     Criminal or Violent Behavior              

                                    B1. Active Shooter

B2. Terrorism  Incidents

                                    B3. Explosions or Bomb Threats      

 

                        Appendix C:     Fire Procedures                                                         

 

Appendix D:     Public Health Emergencies

                                    D1. Pathogenic Microorganisms

                                    D2. Pandemic Incidents

 

                        Appendix E:     Hazardous Materials Incidents                      

                                    E1. Radioactivity Releases

                                    E2. Release of Hazardous Gas or Vapors    

 

                        Appendix F:     Infrastructure/ Utility Disruptions                                                        

 

Appendix G:     Civil Disturbances and/or Demonstrations

                       

            Appendix H:     Special Events

 

                        Appendix I:       Evacuations

                       

            Appendix J:      Other Institution-Specific Incidents    

 

Ø      Supplemental Material:

SOPs, SOGs, IAPs, checklists, and decision support files provide the detailed instructions that an organization or an individual needs to fulfill responsibilities and perform tasks assigned in the AHEOP.  They may be attached to the AHEOP or referenced as deemed appropriate.  These materials may also be distributed to front line or first responders to assist in initial response efforts.