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3 Emergency Management Framework
Pages 47-86

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From page 47... ... Also, since disasters dramatically affect our physical, social, and economic geography, geospatial requirements and capabilities are embedded throughout this complex system. This chapter describes the key characteristics of disasters and the conventional phased approach to their management, with particular attention to geospatial needs and functions. Read the entire page →
From page 48... ... Disasters present emergency planners, emergency managers, and policy makers with countervailing pressures. On the one hand, it is important to minimize the exposure of populations and infrastructure to hazards; on the other, people want to build and live in scenic, but hazard-prone, areas and often oppose government regulation. Read the entire page →
From page 49... ... Managing these phenomena can thus be a highly technical endeavor requiring specialized expertise for both policy development and policy implementation. In particular, geospatial data and tools can help incident managers to visualize the event over time, track the activities of responders, and predict the outcomes of various courses of action. Read the entire page →
From page 50... ... Almost every emergency preparedness and response challenge has important geospatial aspects, and effective emergency management thus requires adroit use of geospatial data and tools. To address these and other issues and challenges, the emergency services professions have specified a host of activities aimed at assuaging the losses that disasters inflict. Read the entire page →
From page 51... ... This includes activities as basic as developing framework data and foundation data on infrastructure, hazards and risks, location of assets that are of use for response and recovery (sand bags, generators, shelters, medical resources, heavy equipment, breathing apparatus, chemical spill response units, etc.) , determining (if possible) Read the entire page →
From page 52... ... For example, evacuation routes can be planned based upon demographics, capacity of existing roads, and traffic volume as a function of day and time. Models of event scenarios can be used either in the development of single- or multiagency response plans or as part of exercises designed to test agency preparedness and the adequacy of those plans. Read the entire page →
From page 53... ... Activities during this period include image acquisition, processing, analysis, distribution, and conversion to information products. Other geospatial data also must be collected, collated, summarized, and converted into maps, reports, and other information products. Read the entire page →
From page 54... ... Longer-term activities involve rebuilding and reconstruction of physical, economic, and social infrastructure and, ultimately, memorializing the losses from the event. Geospatial activities during recovery include the use of geospatial information and analysis to help managers direct the recovery process, including the urban search-and-rescue grid and status, tracking the progress of repairs, provision of temporary water and ice, locating populations, Read the entire page →
From page 55... ... Geospatial analysis can support benefit-cost analysis by comparing the cost of changes (such as new construction requirements) to estimates of the savings that result when a hazard is mitigated. Read the entire page →
From page 56... ... In ideal cases, populations and infrastructure are rendered invulnerable to attacks. Again, geospatial data and tools can be used to show conditions at particular points in time. Read the entire page →
From page 57... ... under the National Response Plan (NRP) .1 The NRP "is an all-hazards plan that provides the structure and mechanisms for national level policy and operational coordination for domestic incident management." It provides the framework for federal interaction with other levels of government and other sectors with respect to all phases of disaster management (preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation) Read the entire page →
From page 58... ... 58 SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE STARTS WITH A MAP TABLE 3.1 Key Disaster-Related Functions by Level of Government and Phase Level Mitigation Preparedness Federal � Supports research of hazard � Provides training and causes professional development � Develops means to modify programs the causes of or vulnerability � Provides public education to hazards � Coordinates warning system � Reviews and approves state � Formulates, implements, and mitigation projects evaluates emergency management � Provides training and technical policy expertise � Conducts inspection and � Directs flood control program assessment programs � Directs hazard prediction and � Reviews, coordinates, and mapping initiatives conducts federal, state, and � Provides hazard mitigation grants regional exercises � Provides funds to individuals for � Assesses and coordinates disaster small projects to prevent losses plans � Funds coastal land-use planning � Provides grants for disaster � Creates geospatial data model planning, equipment, and training � Provides federal flood insurance � Operates the national operations � Invests in development of new center technologies � Specifies required response capabilities � Facilitates information sharing � Coordinates incident response planning � Synthesized intelligence � Generates threat assessments � Inventories critical infrastructure � Stockpiles equipment and supplies State � Conducts hazard identification � Conducts risk and exposure � Conducts land-use planning assessment � Develops, adopts, and enforces � Monitors and surveys potential land-use standards hazards � Regulates growth � Creates resource inventory � Solicits mitigation projects and � Conducts disaster planning establishes funding priorities � Coordinates plans of localities, � Establishes legal basis for local facilitates interagency policy ordinances coordination � Regulates construction � Stockpiles equipment and supplies � Provides aid to localities � Conducts capability assessment � Provides public education � Conducts training and exercises � Provides technical expertise to localities � Obtains grant funding to support preparedness activities Read the entire page →
From page 59... ... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK 59 Response Recovery � Collects data about the disaster � Restores economic stability � Creates and disseminates common � Provides crisis counseling operating picture � Provides legal assistance � Assesses damage � Provides technical assistance, debris � President may declare disaster or emergency removal, communications, and � Implements the National Response Plan public transportation, if requested and activates Emergency Support Functions � Provides temporary housing � Designates principal federal official assistance, individual and family � Establishes Joint Field Offices to coordinate grants, funds to repair facilities, and support disaster unemployment assistance � Provides atmospheric modeling � Provide loans for repair of homes, � Can mobilize the military businesses, farms � Validates and makes recommendations in � Provides tax relief response to threat assessments � Provides food, water, temporary power, and technical assistance � Mobilizes National Guard � Conducts debris removal � Provides food, water, clothing, and shelter � Restores public services and � Conducts damage assessment facilities � Disseminates public information � Restores infrastructure � Restores essential infrastructure � Restores economic stability � Executes state emergency plan � Renews economic development � May request FEMA to assess damage � Restores governmental self� May seek presidential declaration sufficiency � Runs EOC � Prepares hazard mitigation plan � Coordinates resources across jurisdictions � May request federal agencies to � Funds mutual aid to other states perform short-term tasks � Provides aid to localities � Administers federal assistance � Assists with evacuation � Provides technical assistance to localities � Provides relief funds to localities continued Read the entire page →
From page 60... ... The ICS establishes lines of supervisory authority and formal reporting relationships, but allows for team-based leadership approaches. In particular, the ICS may include the adoption of a formal unified command, a multiagency governance structure that incorporates officials from agencies with jurisdictional or functional responsibility at the incident scene and allows them to provide management and direction jointly within a commonly conceived set of incident objectives and strategies. Read the entire page →
From page 61... ... Operations refers to the ways in which resources are applied in the field to meet emergency response objectives. In an ICS, the operations section is responsible for directing and supervising the execution of all tactical activities. Read the entire page →
From page 62... ... NOTE: DHS = Department of Homeland Security; FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency; HSOC = Homeland Security Operations Center. Read the entire page →
From page 63... ... This function incorporates all incident support needs, including supplies, facilities, transportation, communications, food, and medical support. It is the logistics section's responsibility to establish the infrastructure required to meet the data management needs that arise as geospatial data and tools are brought to bear on an incident. Read the entire page →
From page 64... ... The GMO's major initiatives include publication of a draft Geospatial Data Model (May 2006) ,3 developing geospatial guidance for DHS's grant program, developing a geospatial concept of operations for the National Response Plan, and publication of a national geospatial strategy to meet national geospatial preparedness needs. Read the entire page →
From page 65... ... , driven by fused data sources and types and shared geospatial data and services, in order to facilitate situational awareness. Development of the COP is an important job of the GMO. Read the entire page →
From page 66... ... Geospatial professionals directly involved in emergency management work primarily in other capacities during normal times outside of disaster response and recovery, although this varies by agency and level of government. At the federal level, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Read the entire page →
From page 67... ... Other federal agencies and national laboratories also have geospatial resources, including personnel, data, and tools that can be brought to bear during disasters. The roles of the other federal agencies in emergency management and their use of geospatial data and tools are very diverse, depending on the mission of the agency. Read the entire page →
From page 68... ... Also, sometimes responders ask for the wrong thing, which then fails, leading them to condemn geospatial technology as unworkable or inappropriate. To bring geospatial data and tools to bear effectively then, geospatial professionals must be conversant in how to define functional requirements and must be willing and able to engage their responder customers in a way that will help the customers to articulate their problems and needs, so that the GIS unit can respond to them. Read the entire page →
From page 69... ... Attempts have been and are being made to address this problem. There are numerous international activities in the area of geospatial data for emergency response, and much could be learned from them. Read the entire page →
From page 70... ... We will ensure safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors, and promote the free-flow of commerce." To meet this mission, DHS has implemented a National Incident Management System12 (NIMS) and an updated NRP.13 These and other recent federallevel policy documents explicitly recognize the requirement to make geospatial data and tools available to support incident management. Read the entire page →
From page 71... ... is designed to be a network of federal, state, and local geospatial databases (NRC, 1993) Read the entire page →
From page 72... ... several other major plans, including earlier versions of the National Response Plan, the Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan, and the Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan. The NRP adopts and adapts many of the functions and requirements detailed in those plans, including those related to geospatial data and tools. Read the entire page →
From page 73... ... Geospatial requirements appear in the ESF, support, and incident annexes as follows: � Emergency Support Function 5 -- Emergency Management Annex. This annex specifies that DHS-FEMA, as the primary responsible agency, "coordinates the use of remote sensing and reconnaissance operations, activation and deployment of assessment personnel or teams, and Geographic Information System support needed for incident management." This annex also provides for the planning function in accordance with the NIMS. Read the entire page →
From page 74... ... � The Tribal Relations Support Annex specifies that federal departments and agencies are responsible for providing "appropriate incident management officials with access to current databases containing information on tribal resources, demographics, and geospatial information." � The Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex specifies that the Department of the Interior "advises and assists in the development of geographic information systems databases to be used in the analysis and assessment of contaminated areas, including personnel and equipment." Overall, the committee believes that the NRP is weak in defining geospatial requirements and providing federal agencies specific direction about how to meet them, and that DHS's Geospatial Management Office should accelerate its plan to develop a geospatial concept of operations for the NRP. 3.3.4 National Incident Management System The NIMS "provides a consistent doctrinal framework for incident management at all jurisdictional levels, regardless of the cause, size, or complexity of the incident." The NIMS provides a core set of doctrine, Read the entire page →
From page 75... ... The NIMS assigns responsibility to DHS's NIMS Integration Center (NIC) for facilitating the development of data standards for geospatial information, asserting that "the use of geospatial data must be tied to consistent standards because of the potential for coordinates to be transformed incorrectly or otherwise misapplied, causing inconspicuous, yet serious, errors." The NIMS sets forth the requirement that standards should be "robust enough to enable systems to be used in remote field locations, where telecommunications capabilities may not have sufficient bandwidth to handle large images or are limited in terms of computing hardware." 3.3.5 National Preparedness Goal HSPD-8 focuses on strengthening preparedness,20 and one of its requirements is the establishment of a national domestic all-hazards preparedness goal. Read the entire page →
From page 76... ... The UTL and TCL make only scant reference to geospatial data and tools, as follows: � Universal Task List. Version 2.1 of the UTL was published in May 2005.22 The UTL identifies approximately 1,600 tasks, of which 300 are deemed "critical." Critical tasks are defined as "those that must be performed during a major event to prevent occurrence, reduce loss of life or serious injuries, mitigate significant property damage, or are essential to the success of a homeland security mission." The UTL identifies one geospatially related critical task as part of the emergency management function: "Support identification and determination of potential hazards and threats including mapping, modeling, and forecasting." The UTL also identifies "common tasks" (i.e., tasks that cut across mission areas) Read the entire page →
From page 77... ... While there is general acknowledgement of the role that geospatial data and tools may play in incident response and management, no specific requirements are articulated in the National Response Plan or elsewhere. Further, there is no explicit reference to the role of geospatial data and tools in the pre-incident planning process. Read the entire page →
From page 78... ... Geospatial resources and processes must be able to adapt and respond to follow the contour of these changing demands. During the committee's deliberations, many individuals and agencies provided lists of the types of geospatial data most likely to be needed during the various phases of emergency response and associated tools and capabilities. Read the entire page →
From page 79... ... Key elements of federal emergency management policy have been reviewed from the perspective of geospatial preparedness. Together, Chapters 2 and 3 provide the necessary background for Chapter 4, which presents a systematic review of the major themes underlying and impacting the integration of geospatial data and tools in emergency management, and lays out the committee's conclusions and recommendations. Read the entire page →
From page 80... ... that includes attribute information � Foundation data and imagery that allow for identification and graphic relationships among critical facilities, hazards, and resources � Comprehensive geospatial database tied to full demographic profile for communities to yield understanding of populations at risk � Detailed geospatial data on the location and characteristics of businesses and the size of their workforce � Detailed geospatial data on the location and characteristics of equipment and supply assets as well as human assets � Identification of alternate sites for critical facilities � Pre-event imagery � Pre-plans that include building interior data � Database of current resource status and locations (e.g., shelters, vaccines, communications) � Shared parcel-level information (linked to tax assessor's or insurance industry data) Read the entire page →
From page 81... ... and detailed discriminating variation in residential elevation data structures using remote-sensing data � Detailed geospatial data on the location supported by ground survey and characteristics of equipment and � Tools for tracking resource movement supply assets as well as human � Optimal location analysis capability in resources COTS GIS � Projected 24/7 population database that estimates population on 1 km grid resolution (ORNL Landscan population database -- does not have age attributes) continued Read the entire page →
From page 82... ... 82 SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE STARTS WITH A MAP TABLE 3.2 Continued Requirements Response � Ability to warn the public and notify responders � Ability to compare damage with client databases to calculate expected demand � Ability to track resource locations and status, including shelter sites � Ability to track the activities of public, private, and nonprofit service providers; maps of where current assistance is being provided � Rapid identification and categorization of the extent and type of damage over a widespread area, assessment of damage severity, including maps of damage areas and affected populations � Common operating picture based on shared geospatial data and analysis and continuous, real-time data about incident, damage, resources � Creation of an archive of social, economic, and geographic issues and responses for the incident � Detailed information on refugee and stranded demographics especially age and location and maps of needy and underserved areas � Robust communication system that supports data transmission from point of service to site of definitive analysis and decision making � Understanding of critical infrastructure damage (e.g., road and bridge closures, power outages) � Ability to provide coordinate locations for planning and executing search-and-rescue operations Read the entire page →
From page 83... ... data sets � SOPs for remote-sensing and GIS � Hazard model input to parcel-level technologies in emergency management geographic database for prediction of agencies at-risk population � Integrated system for real-time � NOAA and FEMA Public Alert Warning reception of remote-sensing data to System and reverse 911 forward deployed capability � Residential structures damage estimation � Coupled modeling capability to spatial (RSDE) database decision support system or simple GIS � Robust geospatial analytical capability -- � RSDE system is not integrated with GIS COTS GIS, products for mapping and database for real-time automated spatial analysis, and the ability to update incorporate model output � Integrated, location-based field data � Sophisticated, nearly incident-specific, acquisition system linked to central GIS remote-sensing, image acquisition, and for use by initial response teams and exploitation capabilities recovery teams � The ability to geo-code coordinates to � Dynamic update of geospatial database support search-and-rescue operations content from any approved point in the response activity � Assured communication system for geography-specific public alert and feedback from affected population on status and need � Coordinated, detailed information on post-incident population movement � Rapid damage assessment identifying extent and severity of damage continued Read the entire page →
From page 84... ... 84 SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE STARTS WITH A MAP TABLE 3.2 Continued Requirements Recovery � Ability to provide information to public about rebuilding and regrowth � Ability to track resource locations and status, and the locations and activities of service providers � Access to response geospatial database for transition of response to recovery � Geospatial tools for land-use planning � Identification and analysis of optimal landfill, shelter, long-term housing sites, disaster recovery centers, and recovery team staging areas � Integrated monitoring system for recovery operations at the parcel level � Maps of how population shifts as a result of disaster -- age is an important attribute � New information required to issue building permits � Remote-sensing acquisitions to monitor recovery progress on a regional basis � User-friendly decision support tools to systematically evaluate short and long-term demands such as allocation of resources, capacity shortfalls, and status of restoration NOTE: COTS = commercial, off the shelf; ORNL = Oak Ridge National Laboratory; SOP = Standard Operating Procedure. Read the entire page →
From page 85... ... � Dynamic models that incorporate real� Commercial or government-provided time geographic data of response remote-sensing acquisitions to monitor activity within a GIS for full recovery progress on a regional basis understanding of resource use and � Land-cover or land-use classification, changing need change detection, and mapping using � Coordinated, detailed information on COTS image analysis tools post-incident population movement � Correlation of individual-level data across � Simple geocoding capabilities that data sets allows nontechnical staff to provide � Multiple overlay and spatial relationships coordinates for search and rescue and comparison operations � Standard COTS GIS products for mapping and spatial analysis (but data may not be available) Read the entire page →

From page 47...

... Also, since disasters dramatically affect our physical, social, and economic geography, geospatial requirements and capabilities are embedded throughout this complex system. This chapter describes the key characteristics of disasters and the conventional phased approach to their management, with particular attention to geospatial needs and functions.

3 Emergency Management Framework Pages 47-86

3 Emergency Management Framework
Pages 47-86