duringanemergency，responsepersonnelmustoftendealwith（ duringanemergency,responsepersonnelmustoftendealwith）.docVIP

CHAPTER 9 PREPAREDNESS FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE This chapter begins with an examination of the basic principles of emergency planning and outlines the process of assessing the emergency response organization’s ability to perform four basic functions—emergency assessment, hazard operations, population protection, and incident management. Communities are most effective in preparing to implement these functions if they follow eight fundamental principles of emergency planning. In addition, emergency preparedness is supported by three recent organizational structures—the Urban Areas Security Initiative, Metropolitan Medical Response System, and National Incident Management System. The latter is implemented through the Incident Command System and the jurisdiction’s Emergency Operations Center. The chapter continues with a discussion of Emergency Operations Plan development and concludes with a discussion of emergency preparedness by households, businesses, and government agencies. Introduction Emergency preparedness can be defined as preimpact activities that establish a state of readiness to respond to extreme events that could affect the community. It establishes organizational readiness to minimize the adverse impact of these events by means of active responses to protect the health and safety of individuals and the integrity and functioning of physical structures. As indicated in Chapter 3, emergency preparedness is achieved by planning, training, equipping, and exercising the emergency response organization. That is, members of the LEMC establish the basic plan, annexes, and appendixes of the jurisdiction’s EOP, train members of the emergency response organization to perform their duties, and test the plan’s effectiveness with emergency exercises. They must also acquire the facilities, equipment, and materials needed to support the emergency response. Finally, the LEMC should develop comparable organizational structures, plans, and preparedness for the disaster reco