Emergency Preparedness
Prepared People Save Lives
Emergency preparedness is crucial to maintaining quality operations in any given facility. Emergency preparedness:
- Saves lives and protects essential services
- Minimizes recovery costs
- Meets regulatory compliance
- Builds public trust and reputation
This page outlines the steps in creating a robust emergency preparedness plan for any type of facility.
1. Identify Risks
Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) Tool
A Hazard Vulnerability Assessment is:
- A structured framework for identifying and prioritizing hazards.
- An evaluation of impact across essential services and the likelihood of impact.
- Helps align emergency planning training and exercise with actual risks.
ODP has developed the Hazard Vulnerability Assessment tool to help facilities of any type assess their exposure to a variety of hazards. The tool can be used to help minimize risk and develop emergency preparedness plans for your facilities.
How to use the HVA Tool
The video below is a walkthrough of the HVA tool. Below the video, instructional slides are available to download.
2. Develop Emergency Preparedness Plan
FEMA PrepToolkit and the National Preparedness System
The FEMA National Preparedness System outlines an organized process for everyone in the whole community to move forward with their preparedness activities and achieve the emergency preparedness goals.
The Preparedness Toolkit is an online portal that can be useful for developing a robust emergency preparedness plan based on risks identified by the HVA.
3. Exercise, Evaluate, Improve
Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP)
Once an emergency preparedness plan has been developed, it is important to play out emergency scenarios in controlled exercises before a real emergency occurs. Scenario exercises reduces the need for impromptu decision-making by allowing all participants to understand their roles and assignments before an emergency presents itself. Exercises also allow for evaluation and improvement of preparedness plans.
The Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) provides resources for conducting your exercise and evaluating its efficiency.
To learn how to strengthen your organization’s disaster readiness, contact ODP’s Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Daniel Miller at danielm@pa.gov today. Don’t wait for a crisis—begin the discussion now!
