Emergency And Contingency Planning

Emergency And Contingency can occur anytime anywhere, especially in today’s highly volatile and hostile world. So what is the solution? Can you stop these happenings as an individual? No way! Then the most probable and feasible solution is Emergency And Contingency Planning well ahead of time. Emergency And Contingency Planning by businesses and government agencies since the September 11 attacks also appears to have paid off by facilitating a smooth response and recovery from the disruption.

The recent experience has shown that an emergency situation (such as flood) may occur anytime, and the resources invested in prevention and preparations are never useless or wasted. The capability of prompt and competent intervention based on the correct information and proper collaboration of rescue units are guiding principles which may save a number of lives and prevent immense economic damage every day.

The Emergency And Contingency Planning is one of the activities which may increase their odds during emergency events. It serves to clearly identify potential danger, state of necessary resources, to register people in charge, define the procedures how to prevent the situation or to deal with its possible consequential impact.

For example, the City of Columbia City believes that Emergency And Contingency Planning are necessary for the proper operation of its water supply system.  In accordance with this philosophy, the city has developed plans and contingencies to deal with a broad range of situations.   

Here are some basics steps to making the Emergency And Contingency Planning: The Emergency And Contingency Planning process should be thought of as a cycle of planning activity which includes some essential steps of identifying the threats, developing a plan, testing/evaluating the plan, and refining/revising the plan.

Analyze the Threat and Potential Hazards: The first step in the Emergency And Contingency Planning process is to develop a clear statement of the potential threats or hazards that the school system could face. Most such threats are common knowledge, such as known regional hazards from severe weather or earthquakes. For example, school officials in Oklahoma already know that tornadoes are one of the emergencies that they are most likely to encounter, and they plan accordingly. The severity and probability of threats and hazards should be quantified so that each threat can be ranked by its order of importance. Obviously, the idea is to accord high priority in the planning process to the hazards that are most likely to occur. Hazards that occur infrequently, but that could have catastrophic effects on the school system--least likely, but most dangerous—should also be accorded priority attention. So in this situation, Emergency And Contingency Planning is an absolute must.

Similarly, man-made emergencies, such a chemical spill on a nearby highway or a toxic release from a local plant, often require responses that are significantly different than the responses to a natural disaster like a tornado or flood. In environmental emergencies, one of the most important steps in a school's emergency response program is rapidly obtaining accurate information about the exact nature of the toxic material, whereas in floods the nature of the hazard is ordinarily well understood. For this reason, school officials may find that it makes sense to distinguish between man-made emergencies and natural disasters in the emergency plan.

Testing and Exercising the Emergency And Contingency Planning. Outside of an actual disaster, the most effective way to test an emergency plan is through a drill, simulation, or exercise. Simulations and exercises have been used with great success by a wide variety of organizations. Hospitals, for example, are required as part of the accreditation process to conduct periodic emergency drills. The military and many industries have also found exercises to be an effective, low cost way of identifying areas where emergency plans need to be improved, where new equipment is needed, or where further dialogue is necessary between the school system and other agencies such as the state emergency management agency or the local fire department.

California's Energy Emergency And Contingency Planning: One of the California Energy Commission's legislative mandates is preparing for and dealing with energy emergencies. The Commission, under the Chairman and at the direction of the Governor, is the primary state agency to direct the state's response to natural and man-made energy emergencies and it devise strategies for Emergency And Contingency Planning. In the past two decades, the Commission has responded to energy shortages as the result of fire, earthquake, civil unrest and supply disturbances. The Commission also does Emergency And Contingency Planning every five years and tests that plan using simulations and models. Additionally, the Commission assists local government in developing local energy emergency plans.

Emergencies stemming from possible shortages of electricity, however, are not handled by the Energy Commission's Contingency Planning Office. Under Executive Order by Governor Davis (D-15-00) the State and Consumer Services Agency is responsible for direct action during short-term electricity shortages, such as those declared by the California Independent System Operator (ISO)./

Please visit: http://www.energy.ca.gov/contingency for more details. From this page, you will be able to access the latest situation reports if the state experiences an energy emergency. For information about electric utility power outages, contact the local electricity service provider.