The purpose of this page is to provide information on strategic and operational planning. The National Incident Management System is intended to be used by the whole community. The intended audience for this page is individuals, families, communities, the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations, and local, state, tribal, territorial, insular area, and Federal governments.
Introduction
Planning makes it possible to manage the entire life cycle of a potential crisis. Strategic and operational planning establishes priorities, identifies expected levels of performance and capability requirements, provides the standard for assessing capabilities and helps stakeholders learn their roles. The planning elements identify what an organization’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) should include for ensuring that contingencies are in place for delivering the capability during a large-scale disaster.
National Response Framework
The National Response Framework presents the guiding principles that enable all response partners to prepare for and provide a unified national response to disasters and emergencies - from the smallest incident to the largest catastrophe. The Framework establishes a comprehensive, national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response.
Comprehensive Preparedness Guides
Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101 Version 2.0
FEMA’s Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101 Version 2.0 provides guidance on the fundamentals of planning and development of EOPs. Following the initial release of CPG 101 in March 2009, FEMA solicited additional input from federal, state, territorial, tribal, local and private sector stakeholders, which led to the development of a more user-friendly document that reflects recent initiatives and the current planning environment. CPG 101 Version 2.0 encourages emergency and homeland security managers to engage the whole community in addressing all of the risks that might impact their jurisdictions. This version of CPG 101 replaces all previous versions of CPG 101 and is the cornerstone for a series of CPGs that provide planning considerations for a variety of hazards, security issues and emergency functions. Supplements to 101 will be issued as needed to expand on aspects of the guidance.
- Plan Analysis Tool: The Plan Analysis Tool supplements CPG 101 by providing a one-page matrix to track the development timeline for a new plan or the revision of an existing plan. The tool also captures the planning elements contained in CPG 101 to support the analysis by a jurisdiction of its existing plans.
Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 201, Second Edition
FEMA’s Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 201, Second Edition provides communities additional guidance for conducting a Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA). The first edition of this guide, released in April 2012, presented the basic steps of the THIRA process. Specifically, the first edition described a standard process for identifying community-specific threats and hazards and setting capability targets for each core capability identified in the National Preparedness Goal as required in Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8: National Preparedness. CPG 201, Second Edition expands the THIRA process to include estimation of resources needed to meet the capability targets. The second edition also reflects other changes to the THIRA process based on stakeholder feedback and supersedes the first edition of CPG 201.
Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 502
FEMA’s Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 502 focuses on the critical partnership and the exchange of information between fusion centers and Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). The guide does not provide a “one-size fits all” approach to fusion center and EOC coordination. Rather, it outlines the information sharing roles of fusion centers and EOCs while identifying the planning and coordination considerations each entity must take into account. This guide outlines considerations for the following as they pertain to fusion centers and EOCs: Familiarization with Capabilities, Needs and Requirements, Establishing Partnerships, Determining Processes and Training, Workshops and Exercises.
Developing High Quality Emergency Operation Plans for Houses of Worship
The Guide for Developing High Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Houses of Worship provides recommendations in the development of plans not only to respond to an emergency but, also, outlines how organizations can plan for preventing, protecting against, mitigating the impact of and recovering from these emergencies. The guide translates lessons learned from the administration’s work on national preparedness to the school and house of worship contexts, ensuring that these critical assets are benefitting from recent advancements in the emergency planning field.
The guide introduces houses of worship to a new approach to planning that includes walking through different emergency scenarios to create a course of action for each objective the team is trying to accomplish. The guide emphasizes that successful planning requires all stakeholders be engaged in the planning process from the start – including community partners such as local law enforcement, fire officials, emergency medical services and emergency management staff.
Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plan
The Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plan provides recommendations in the development of plans not only to respond to an emergency but, also, outlines how schools (K-12) can plan for preventing, protecting against, mitigating the impact of and recovering from these emergencies. The guide translates lessons learned from the administration’s work on national preparedness to benefit from recent advancements in the emergency planning field. The guide introduces new approaches to planning that includes walking through different emergency scenarios to create a course of action for each objective the team is trying to accomplish.
Guide for Developing High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Institutions of Higher Education
The Guide for Developing High-Quality Emergency Operations Plans for Institutions of Higher Education provides recommendations in the development of plans not only to respond to an emergency but, also, outlines how institutions of higher education can plan for preventing, protecting against, mitigating the impact of and recovering from these emergencies. The guide translates lessons learned from the administration’s work on national preparedness to institutions of higher education to benefit from recent advancements in the emergency planning field. The guide introduces new approaches to planning that includes walking through different emergency scenarios to create a course of action for each objective the team is trying to accomplish.
Preparedness Technical Assistance
Preparedness Technical Assistance (TA) services seek to build and sustain capabilities in support of the preparedness mission area. These services address the suite of priorities and capabilities outlined in the National Preparedness Guidelines. As capability gaps are identified within state, local, tribal and territorial jurisdictions, Preparedness TA services are designed, developed and delivered to address those needs and build capabilities in the most critical areas. For more information on available services and to request support, go to the Homeland Security Virtual Assistance Center.
Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grants
The Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) is intended to support coordination of regional all-hazard planning for catastrophic events, including the development of integrated planning communities, plans, protocols and procedures to manage a catastrophic event.