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LLIS.gov Newsletter 
| August 2008 Lessons Learned Information Sharing Newsletter |
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Contents| National Preparedness Month |
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September is National Preparedness Month
September 2008 marks the fifth annual National Preparedness Month, a nationwide initiative sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies. This year, National Preparedness Month focuses on the four steps of preparedness: get a kit, make a plan, be informed, and get involved. To assist preparedness planning, LLIS.gov has created the National Preparedness Month page to share important information about these issues.
To access the National Preparedness Month page, please log onto LLIS.gov and click on National Preparedness Month under FEATURED TOPICS. We welcome any thoughts, questions, or suggestions that you may have at nationalprepmonth@llis.dhs.gov.
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| Mass Evacuation |
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LLIS.gov Resources on Mass Evacuation
LLIS.gov strives to provide emergency response professionals and homeland security officials with timely and accurate resources to assist them with preparedness efforts in response to all hazards. As we are currently in the middle of hurricane season, LLIS.gov would like to highlight the Mass Evacuation Resource Page, which contains planning guidance and other resources on issues such as evacuation transportation and traffic control, public communications, and mass sheltering.
To access the resource page, please log onto LLIS.gov and click on Mass Evacuation under FEATURED TOPICS.
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| New Original Content |
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The LLIS.gov Team continues to post new Lessons Learned, Best Practices, Practice Notes, and Good Stories to the system on a regular basis. Weekly updates about new original content can be found in the NEW LLIS CONTENT box on the homepage of LLIS.gov. LLIS.gov recently posted the following original content documents:
Lessons Learned- Emergency Operations Center: Designating a Separate Area for Call-Takers (Mason County, Washington, Winter Storms, 2007)
Emergency managers should review auxiliary areas in emergency operations centers (EOC) to determine whether they can accommodate phone banks, if necessary, during an incident. This will allow call-takers to work from auxiliary areas and will reduce noise in the main EOC area. - Emergency Operations Center Management: Additional Staffing during a Hospital Evacuation Event (Dark December Full-Scale Exercise, 2007)
Emergency managers should consider additional staffing and education for individuals staffing the Emergency Support Function-8 desk in emergency operations centers during a hospital evacuation event. - Emergency Operations Centers: Ensuring Adequate On-Site Security and Access Controls (Springfield-Greene, Missouri, County Ice Storm, 2007)
Emergency managers should ensure that security personnel are present to provide on-site security and to maintain check-in procedures after an emergency operations centers (EOC) is activated. This will enhance information accountability within the EOC and will protect information that is not intended for public release. - Emergency Operations Centers: Establishing Strategic Priorities during Activations (Regional Response ?07 Statewide Functional Exercise, 2007)
Emergency managers should establish strategic priorities each time the emergency operations center is activated. These strategic priorities should be reviewed and revised for each operational period. - Emergency Operations Centers: Quick Reference Guides Documenting Roles and Resources (Regional Response ?07 Statewide Functional Exercise, 2007)
Emergency managers should document roles and available resources in quick reference guides that can be placed at each desk in their emergency operations center. - Incident Command: Implementing a Shift Schedule for Command Staff (New Brighton, Pennsylvania, Train Derailment, 2006)
Emergency managers should establish and enforce a shift schedule for command staff immediately following a large-scale incident. This can help command personnel avoid fatigue and stress during extended emergency response operations. - Incident Site Management: Using Media Helicopters for Incident Site Reconnaissance (New Brighton, Pennsylvania, Train Derailment, 2006)
Jurisdictions could consider partnering with local media outlets to use their helicopters for incident site reconnaissance during a large-scale incident. This can help emergency response personnel gain greater situational awareness during response operations. - Pandemic Influenza Planning: Collaboration with Agricultural and Animal Health Experts (Pandemic Influenza Tabletop Exercise, 2007)
Regional pandemic planners should consider engaging applicable agricultural and animal health experts to ensure that poultry and avian species disease surveillance and response efforts are linked to public health planning. - Pandemic Influenza Preparedness: Conducting Workshops for Elected and Appointed Officials (Pandemic Influenza Tabletop Exercise, 2007)
Regional pandemic planners should consider hosting workshops to provide education to elected and appointed officials about pandemic preparedness efforts. Senior officials should be encouraged to attend in person and not to send staff members in their place. - Public Information: Releasing Geographic Information System Maps to the Media and Public (San Diego, California, Wildland Fires, 2003 and 2007)
Jurisdictions should consider releasing Geographic Information System maps to the media and public during major events. This will ensure that the public receives the most timely, accurate information available from a trusted source. - Public Information: Updating Online Fire Information during a Disaster (Southern California Wildland Fires, 2007)
Local fire departments should train additional personnel and enhance Web site functions to permit frequent online updates during a disaster. These measures enable faster dissemination of accurate incident information to the public.
Practice Notes |
| New Documents of Interest |
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Additions to the LLIS.gov Repository
LLIS.gov continues to add preparedness information to the document repository to better serve the emergency response and homeland security communities. The following are some new additions that may be of interest to the LLIS.gov community.- Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101: Producing Emergency Plans
This Guide (interim version 1.0) provides emergency managers and other emergency services personnel with the Federal Emergency Management Agency?s best judgment and recommendations on how to address the entire planning process from forming a planning team, through writing and maintaining the plan, to executing the plan. It also encourages emergency managers to follow a process that addresses all of the hazards that threaten their jurisdictions through a suite of plans connected to a single, integrated emergency operations plan. - Interim Emergency Management Planning Guide for Special Needs Populations
This guide is intended as a tool for state, territorial, tribal, and local emergency managers in the development of emergency operations plans that are inclusive of the entire population of a jurisdiction of any size. It provides recommendations for planning for special needs populations. The information in this document is universal in its application and tied to national planning policies and guidance such as the National Response Framework, National Incident Management System, and the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101. - National Emergency Communications Plan
The purpose of the National Emergency Communications Plan is to promote the ability of emergency response providers and relevant government officials to continue to communicate in the event of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters and to ensure, accelerate, and attain interoperable emergency communications nationwide. - NIMS Implementation Activities for Schools and Higher Education Institutions
This guidance document outlines those actions schools must take in order to fulfill National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliance requirements, to integrate NIMS into the educational setting, and to connect schools and campuses to their community partners. The Department of Education has identified those NIMS implementation activities that match the unique role of schools in a community, its needs, and its functions as response agents along the chain of command. Therefore, the activities in this document are required for schools to support the implementation of NIMS and to be compliant.
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| LLIS.gov Outreach |
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The LLIS.gov team travels around the country speaking and exhibiting at conferences and events. Representatives of LLIS.gov are scheduled to speak at, exhibit during, or attend the upcoming events below.- 11-12 September: DNI Open Source Conference 2008: Conference to Explore Implications of New Technologies for Open Source Analysis (Washington, DC)
- 17-19 September: Kansas Emergency Management Association Annual Conference (Topeka, KS)
- 29-31 October: 10th Annual Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness Conference and Exposition 2008 (Chicago, IL)
If you would like to request an LLIS.gov presentation at your next event, please email the Outreach Team at outreach@llis.dhs.gov. For more information, please visit the LLIS.gov Press Room page.
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