Getting Started: Establishing a Planning Process

This lesson will describe the steps to take to initiate the process for developing an emergency plan or annex for assault incidents that may result in mass casualties.

At the completion of this lesson, you should be able to identify:

  • Key factors in making a partnership-based planning process successful.
  • Participants to include in the emergency planning process.
  • Elements to include in an emergency plan or annex for mass casualty incidents.
  • Resources and guidance available to support the planning process.
Getting Started

Audio Transcript

Planning for mass casualty incidents is a process based on partnerships. A team approach to planning brings together people who will engage in every aspect of a potential incident—those who seek to prevent, protect against, or mitigate the effects of an incident, those who will become involved if an incident does occur, and those who will help move the community toward recovery.

As partners in planning, team members share expertise that may help prevent an incident or minimize casualties if an incident does occur. And in the process, they build the relationships that will be essential during a coordinated response.

This lesson will help you get started with the planning process, including laying the groundwork for team collaboration, determining functions to be carried out by the team, and identifying resources that can help you complete the planning process.
Introduction

Depending on your situation, the scope of your planning efforts may vary. For example, if you are in a large school district, safety-related policies and plans may be created at the district level, with individual schools focusing their efforts on tailoring the approach to fit their unique situations.

Very small districts, nontraditional and independent schools, places of worship, and college campuses, on the other hand, may be responsible for the entire planning process. If your institution has an existing all-hazards emergency plan, your goal may be to review and update the plan or to create an annex that focuses on active shooter/mass casualty incidents.

Let’s begin with some basic guidelines that will help you establish an effective planning process.

Planning Guidelines

Five simple guidelines can enhance your planning for a safer, more secure environment.

  1. Partnerships: Lay a foundation of partnerships.
  2. Process: Commit to the process.
  3. People: Involve the right people.
  4. Pacing: Pace yourself for success.
  5. Plans: Customize your plan.
Laying a Foundation of Partnerships

Planning begins by creating partnerships. A team effort requires coordination among many individuals and organizations with diverse expertise and perspectives.

Throughout the planning process, participants become more aware of the challenges, learn about the contributions of all partners, and gain a more in-depth understanding of procedures and protocols.

A partnership approach to planning fosters a whole community commitment to enhancing safety and security.

Benefits of Partnerships

A partnership approach to planning:

  • Enhances awareness of key issues and protective measures.
  • Helps ensure that procedures are realistic and comprehensive.
  • Fosters community buy-in and ownership.
  • Creates shared responsibility among partners.
  • Brings creativity and innovation to your planning efforts.
  • Prevents resistance to and misunderstanding of the measures.
  • Provides reassurance that safety and security are important.
  • Ensures specific community needs are addressed.
  •  Helps in the understanding and acceptance of roles.
  • Aids in familiarity of the site and procedures by all partners.
  • Helps to ensure that the plans for your institution are compatible with those of the agencies that would respond if an incident occurred.
Laying a Foundation of Partnerships – Example

Waukegan Public Schools in Illinois developed some of the most comprehensive school crisis plans in their state. The plans include:

  • Role-specific emergency charts for the superintendent, administrators, teachers, custodians, school secretaries, food service personnel, and school bus drivers and an after-hours event chart.
  • A series of customized training videos that show students and staff how to implement protocols such as lockdown and reverse evacuation.
  • A variety of short web courses and training sessions for staff.
  • A robust approach to drills that requires various staff to implement emergency protocols when prompted by a scenario presented by an administrator each month.

The plans were developed with assistance from a wide variety of area public safety agencies, administrators, teachers, and support staff and have been tested by a progressive exercise program including school level drills, tabletop exercises, functional exercises, and a full-scale exercise that were externally evaluated.

Committing to the Process

The process of creating the plan—forging partnerships, gaining insight into each other’s perspectives, communicating, and working together—leads to the ability to function as a team during a crisis.

Committing full effort to the process of planning will prepare you to handle situations together when they arise.

Involving the Right People

Third, involve the right people. We’ll come back to this in more detail, but the main ideas are these:

  • Anyone who will be involved in implementing the plan should be involved in creating it. Plans should not be developed in a vacuum. Relationships need to be built in advance so that emergency responders and others are familiar with your organization.
  • Don’t overlook expertise within your organization or constituency. For example, who knows your facility better than your own building maintenance or custodial crew?
Involving the Right People: Examples
  • Who safeguards the youth when traveling to and from your site? Bus or van drivers, crossing guards.
  • Who is likely to answer a bomb threat call? Office staff or volunteers.
  • Who is present when people are gathered for meals? Cafeteria staff and volunteers.
  • Who has first contact with visitors at a place of worship? Greeters.
There likely is plenty of talent among your staff, volunteers, congregation, or parent organization who can contribute ideas. Faith-based organizations, for example, usually represent a cross-section of the community, with all its skills and knowledge. The same is true of parent groups. Find out how they can help you!
Pacing Yourself for Success

Next, consider the pace of your planning process. A common planning pitfall is trying to move too quickly to the end stage.

First, don’t be in too great a hurry to produce an end product. Set a realistic timetable, and pace the work so there is adequate time for information gathering, assessment, consideration of alternatives, exchange of ideas, and thorough analysis.

Second, pace the development of your capabilities. It will be important to practice putting the plan into action, but this is best done incrementally. For example, an exercise that involves combinations of response actions and multiple agencies is likely to fail if attempted too early. Plan to practice individual actions or functions, such as communications, lockdown, or reverse evacuation procedures, and build gradually toward more complex exercises.

Customizing Your Plan

Finally, remember that plans aren’t one-size-fits-all. Just as no two schools, campuses, or places of worship are alike, their plans shouldn’t be identical. Avoid purchasing a ready-made plan or simply copying the plan of another organization. Other plans can serve as useful models, but what may work in one place may not work in another.

Invest the effort to develop your own plan—one that’s right for your facility and your organization. Although more initial effort is required, the long-term benefits are significant.

That is not to say you can’t learn from other organizations like yours—far from it. Talk to them, find out what they learned in the planning process, and consider how to use those lessons to enhance your own planning.

Tips for Customizing Your Plan

  • Plans that are not reflective of local risks, realities, and resources are not only more prone to failure in a crisis. They can be difficult to defend in a court of law if litigation occurs in the wake of an incident.
  • Plan development is another opportunity for input from emergency management and from local law enforcement, fire service, and other first responders.
  • Response capabilities and approaches used by public safety responders vary widely across the nation. The most effective plans recognize and reflect these realities.
  • Remember that preparing employees and volunteers to recognize danger, take immediate life-saving action, and communicate the danger to others is one of best opportunities we have to minimize the loss of life in a mass casualty incident.
Functions of the Planning Team

Planning is a continuous process, and partners in that process may perform many different functions along the way, including:

  • Gathering and analyzing information.
  • Conducting vulnerability assessments.
  • Developing measures and plans to address vulnerabilities.
  • Identifying potential resources to support planning efforts.
  • Helping to train personnel and exercise the plans.
  • Identifying lessons learned and updating plans.

You will want to identify potential planning team members who can help perform these functions.

Who Should Be on the Planning Team? (1 of 2)

Start identifying partners by looking inside your organization.

Consider the following:

  • Administrators and leaders.
  • Staff and volunteers.
  • Parents/guardians, congregants, and students.
  • Advocates for those with access and functional needs.
  • Internal law enforcement such as campus police or security personnel.

Consider individuals who are respected and trusted. Also consider those individuals who have knowledge or expertise in an important area.

Selecting Team Members From Within

Select team members who are:

  • Familiar with the organization and the setting.
  • Knowledgeable about what is desired for safety, security, and preparedness.
  • Effective and open communicators.
  • Balanced in approach and not excessive about any one aspect of the process.
  • Able to do the tasks required and to schedule the time needed.

 

Administrators and Leaders

Identify administrators and leaders in your organization who have:

  • Decision-making authority.
  • An understanding of the planning goals.
  • Ability to advocate for resources.

Unofficial leaders—those who are trusted and looked to for leadership—can be especially helpful in engaging the interest and assistance of others in the organization.

Staff and Volunteers

Identify staff members and volunteers who can contribute. Examples include faculty, faith-based leaders, counselors, office staff, maintenance and other support staff, security personnel, student housing supervisors, transportation, staff that handle money, and ushers and greeters. Look for people who have:

  • Trusted relationships within and outside the organization. Such relationships can enable them to recognize threat indicators, concerns within the community, and possible resistance or other obstacles to planning.
  • Expertise in a specific area, such as:
  • First aid and triage.
  • Counseling.
  • Working with persons with access and functional needs.
  • Speaking the languages of the community.
  • Technology, information technology, or security.
  • Facility maintenance.
  • Transportation.
  • Campus housing.
  • Handling and safe-keeping of money.
  • Responsibilities for recognizing members and interacting with visitors.
  • Knowledge of onsite and offsite activities/events, of schedules, and of those who have access to keys, codes, etc.
Parents/guardians, congregants, and students

Identify people in the extended “family” (e.g., PTA and congregation members) who have:

  • Special expertise related to their field of work that might pertain to protection, mitigation, response, or recovery from violent incidents (e.g., law enforcement, mental health, medical services, security, insurance, public information and media relations).
  • Trusted relationships with the community that would be helpful for engaging community support.
Students and Other Children

Identify students or children in your care who are trusted by their peers. Students can often:

  • Provide insight different from that of adults.
  • Alert school officials to problems that have gone undetected.
  • Help build support among peers for measures or programs.
  • Assist in establishing a security culture among their peers.
  • Participate in peer mediation, teen courts, and other problem-solving programs.
Who Should Be on the Planning Team? (2 of 2)
Next, identify potential community partners who will be part of the response or whose expertise can add to the process. CPG 101, Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans, recommends including the following partners on your team. You may wish to tailor your team to the specific needs of your organization.
  • Emergency management
  • Law enforcement
  • Fire services
  • EMS
  • Public health
  • Hospitals and health care facilities
  • Public works
  • Utility operators
  • Education
  • Agriculture
  • Animal control
  • Social services
  • Childcare, child welfare, and juvenile justice facilities (including courts)
  • National Guard
  • Private sector
  • Civic, social, faith-based, educational, professional, and advocacy organizations
Examples of Team Collaboration
Team ParticipantsExamples
Emergency management

Emergency management agencies provide support to schools, houses of worship, and institutions of higher education through resources. Some examples are:

Source: https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/emergency/the_role_of_an_emergency_manager/

Law enforcement

The relationship that one university built with local law enforcement helped stop a former employee from obtaining a weapons permit in a neighboring jurisdiction.

Source: https://sm.asisonline.org/Pages/teaming-reduce-risk.aspx
Fire services

A school district safety coordinator collaborated with local fire departments to help train classroom teachers. “They helped us with the training, provided us facilities, and let us use their resources and expertise.”

Source: http://rems.ed.gov/docs/SS_Vol01Issue01_LincolnCounty.pdf

Fire service personnel are often very good at helping to figure out how to move large groups of people quickly and to resolve issues such as whether or not you can tell people to ignore the fire alarm in a lockdown situation.
Healthcare

In Florida, a hospital trained representatives from houses of worship on spiritual care, stress care, and how to provide care for a loved one.

Source: http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Florida-County-Faith-Based-Community.html

One university included a liaison from the local hospital as part of its response to mass casualties. The liaison will coordinate communications with medical personnel to ensure they are prepared in the case of mass casualties.

Source: https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/university/community-partnerships-improve-active-shooter-response/

Mental health

After the suicide of a student, the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team was brought in to help the personnel deal with the incident. From that incident, a partnership was formed in which school counselors received training and participated on the team.

Source: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/2017/09/08/a_call_you_never_want_to_receive/

A university representative described the importance of coming together as a collective team and to weigh different pieces of information from different perspectives, including that of a psychologist and university counsel.

Source: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124007555?storyId=124007555

Private Sector

A bakery in Vermont used social media to articulate community needs and partnered with the interfaith council to assist the needs of the community. Ultimately, through the long-term recovery, this relationship was important in focusing on the needs of survivors.

Source: https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/individuals-communities/faith-preparedness

A school district’s partnership with local businesses created a synergy that led to local businesses printing calendars with safety messages, insurance companies helping to sponsor community safety expositions, and suppliers discounting safety equipment and providing funding for the district’s Teen CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program.

Source: http://rems.ed.gov/docs/TapIn2CmunityPartnrs4ERMgmt.pdf
Community and volunteer organizations

A community college included the American Heart Association as a part of their emergency management team. This relationship came in handy when they had to address the need to train people on automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) and CPR.

Source: http://rems.ed.gov/docs/SS_Vol01Issue03_DaytonaState.pdf

When eight secretaries from area houses of worship requested assistance on how to handle the ever-growing issues of financial requests, representatives from nonprofit agencies, a university, and area house of worship leaders developed a group that was able to assist with community needs and restore a sense of safety with personnel in the houses of worship.

Source: http://collaboration.foundationcenter.org/search/narratives.php?id=4225

District and peer organizations

A school district planned to provide special training sessions and emergency identification to members of the faith community who agreed to respond and provide assistance at the family reunification center in the event of a crisis.

Source: Dorn, M., Thomas. G., Wong, M., & Shepherd, S. (2004). Jane’s Safe Schools Planning Guide for All Hazards, first edition. Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group.

Montana Safe Schools Center at the University of Montana provides resources and training to schools.

Source: http://coehs.umt.edu/specunits/montana_safe_schools_center/

Conducting Planning Meetings

Everyone on a planning team has other responsibilities. To ensure their continued support and participation, it is important to respect their time and ensure that the meetings are efficient and productive. The following approaches can help keep meetings on track:

  • Manage the time: Identify, and stick to, a specific start and end time for meetings.
  • Provide a clear agenda with meeting items prioritized.
  • Assign a meeting facilitator.
  • Take and distribute meeting minutes.
  • Identify action items for subsequent meetings.

Follow through on unfinished business.

TipExplanation
Clarify the meeting goalsIdentify the goals of the meeting and document the outcomes that you think would come from an effective meeting.
Have a written agendaDevelop a written agenda as a roadmap to achieving the meeting goals. Circulate the agenda before the meeting and, if appropriate, invite attendees to add items to it. During the meeting, use the agenda to provide structure and stay on track.
Set enough timeA common mistake that leaders and facilitators make is to try to get done more than what is achievable within a given timeframe. Don’t make this mistake. If you want the meeting to be effective, then it is worth giving the right amount of time to it.
Start on timeStart the meeting on time whether everyone is there or not. Doing so sets an example of efficiency and sends the message that you value the team members’ time. It also encourages latecomers to be on time for the next meeting.
Assign a facilitatorA facilitator keeps the meeting on track and moving forward and helps ensure that all participants have the opportunity to be heard.
Appoint a recorderThe recorder’s role is to take notes during the meeting and distribute minutes afterward. Minutes keep everyone on the same page and provide an opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings before moving on to next steps.
Provide an orientationStating the purpose of the meeting at the outset takes very little time but will mean that everybody is on the same wavelength. Providing an orientation becomes especially important as the group evolves.
Hear team members’ interestsAn effective way to start a series of meetings is to quickly hear from each member about their interest in being at the meeting. Set a time limit (e.g., 1 minute per person) and stick to it. Invite people to be open about their reason for attending.
Agree on ground rules

A simple list of ground rules—such as asking people to turn off their cell phones, limit side conversations, listen and then only add new ideas, and speak respectfully—can make a huge difference in the tone and feeling of the meeting. Additional ground rules relate to aspects of how the group operates, such as:

  • Roles of team members.
  • Confidentiality.
  • Openness.
  • Communication processes.
  • Commitment of resources.
  • Commitment to results.
Regularly get input from everyone involved When appropriate, quickly go around the room and give each person the opportunity to say how they see the situation. Again, set a time limit (e.g., 2-3 minutes each) and strictly stick to the time limit. This approach is simple, effective, keeps everyone (including those who seldom speak up) involved, and takes little time.
Find common ground A group is more likely to take action to effect change when they have come to some agreement as to the desired future. This usually takes the form of agreement around the strategic areas that require focusing on in order to achieve the purpose.
Action planning The last step of any meeting should be devoted to action planning—who is going to do what by when to achieve the identified objectives. Take the final minutes of the meeting to restate the commitments that people have made.
Action from previous meeting If the meeting is part of a regular series of meetings, recount each of the action plans that were agreed on at the previous meeting and have the responsible individuals indicate what progress they have made on it. (This makes it clear that people will be held accountable.)
Improve future meetings Ask team members how you can improve future meetings. The best way to do this without it becoming a gripe session is to first ask, “What has worked well in our meetings in the past?” Once the group has explored that, then ask, “What can we do to make our meetings even more effective?”
End on time Again this sends a message of respect to the attendees. The one exception to this rule is if all team members agree to extend the finish time.
Gathering Critical Information and Resources

Planning begins by gathering and reviewing existing information. We have talked about the types of expertise team members can bring to the process. Critical information for the planning process can also be gathered with their help. Important information includes:

  • Historical information.
  • Related plans, policies, procedures, and legal requirements.
  • Demographic and logistical information.
  • Information about current security and safety measures.
  • Safety-related concerns of students, staff, or congregants (e.g., from climate surveys).
Checklist for Information Gathering

Historical information:

☐ Past incidents.

☐ Threat assessments, including those from Federal, State, and local law enforcement.

☐ Information on school culture and climate.

Related plans, policies, and procedures:

☐ Existing community-based plans.

☐ Emergency response policies and procedures provided by your district or governing body.

☐ Existing plans for your facility, such as all-hazards emergency plan, continuity of operations plan, etc.

☐ Relevant regulations, ordinances, guidelines, and legal requirements that pertain to protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.

☐ Agreements between your organization and other organizations.

☐ Other documents recommended by your team.

Demographic information:

☐ Typical numbers of people within facilities, including:

☐ Student population and attendance.

☐ Faculty, staff, and volunteers.

☐ Average numbers of worshippers per service.

☐ Children in childcare.

☐ Attendance at special events.

☐ Organization charts, member lists, and contact information.

☐ Information about vendors, consultants, service companies, and others who enter the premises.

Logistical information:

☐ Site surveys that contain:

☐ Building floor plans including blueprints or drawings, maps that identify the location of hazardous materials, elevators, and entrances.

☐ Plans of utility, communications, and alarm systems that identify/map leads for water, gas, electricity, cable, telephones, and HVAC.

☐ Grounds plans including drawings of fences, maps, and buildings.

☐ Transportation information (e.g., bus schedules, traffic controls, and parking procedures).

☐ Schedules, including regular operations planned activities, events, and holidays.

☐ Identities of personnel who have master keys, codes, and access to secured areas.

☐ Supplies: Emergency kits, available emergency medical supplies.

Aligning With Other Plans

Mass casualty response planning is part of an all-hazards approach to planning, and the procedures you develop for addressing acts of aggression and mass casualty incidents will become part of your comprehensive all-hazards emergency plan.

It is also important that your planning efforts for such incidents be aligned with other plans. Through the planning process, team members should review and maintain linkages to all related plans, including:

Individual and family plans.

  • Household members may not be together when an incident occurs, so it is important to have plans for getting to a safe place, contacting one another, and reuniting. Ensuring personnel have plans to ensure the safety of their loved ones helps them focus on the needs of the organization when an incident occurs.

Facility emergency/crisis plans.

  • Your facility’s emergency or crisis plan is an ongoing plan for responding to a wide variety of potential hazards. It describes how people and property will be protected; details who is responsible for carrying out specific actions; identifies the personnel, equipment, facilities, supplies, and other resources available; and outlines how all actions will be coordinated.
  • Your facility’s emergency or crisis plan also identifies the use of the organization’s facilities in emergency situations, such as using it for a shelter, reception area, staging area, point of emergency supply and food distribution, or alternate government facility. Organizations need this information so they can address the issues in their planning.

Community emergency operations plans.

  • Emergency operations plans for the community or State are ongoing plans for responding to a wide variety of potential hazards. The emergency or crisis plans for your facility should be developed and exercised in close collaboration with local or community plans. Community plans in turn should be developed and exercised in conjunction with State and regional plans. At the State level, emergency plans should be designed to respond to citizens’ needs and to outline when to turn to the Federal Government for assistance.

Continuity plans.

  • Continuity plans outline essential functions that must be performed during an incident that disrupts normal operations and how these functions will be performed. They also describe the process for resuming normal operations following an emergency.
Outlining Your Planning Documents

If you already have a comprehensive emergency operations plan, then your team may be updating that plan or adding an annex. Hazard/threat-specific annexes typically include information on:

  • Vulnerability assessment.
  • Actions to mitigate the threat.
  • Protective actions.
  • Internal and external communication procedures.
  • Response and short-term stabilization actions.
  • Recovery actions.
General Planning Tips
  • Identify where you are vulnerable. (The next lesson will provide information about assessing and mitigating vulnerabilities.)
  • Be sure the plan is based on fact, not assumptions.
  • Consider incidents before, during, and after typical operating hours. Include offsite events, such as stadium events, field trips, and camps.
  • Be comprehensive and redundant. Don’t overly rely on a single approach. Identify backup personnel for key roles. Base the plan on current information, and keep it current. If your building layout changes, update it in the plan. Update contact information regularly.
  • Be sure your plan is age appropriate. There are significant differences in how elementary school children, high school students, college students, and members of a congregation will behave in a crisis.
  • Be aware of the diverse needs of individuals, including those with access and functional needs or limited English proficiency.
  • Consider how you will communicate with staff, volunteers, students, community members, and the media during and after a crisis.
  • Consider what training will be needed to make the plan effective. Use a plan format that is clear and easy to use.
  • Include timelines, milestones, and responsibilities for completing them.
Creating the Plan (1 of 2)

Guidance is available to help you create a plan. For example, Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101, Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans, provides detailed information on:

  • Steps in the planning process.
  • What information to include in a plan or annex.
  • Obtaining input, review, and approval.
  • Disseminating, implementing, and maintaining a plan.

In addition, your local emergency manager may be able to assist with planning, and several courses on plan development are available from FEMA.

Planning Resources

Planning Guidance:

CPG 101, Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans, provides Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidance on the fundamentals of planning and developing emergency operations plans (EOPs). CPG 101 shows that EOPs are connected to planning efforts in the areas of prevention, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation.

Training:

IS-36: Multi-Hazard Planning for Childcare

IS-235: Emergency Planning

E/L103: Planning: Emergency Operations

E/L362A: Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools

L0363: Multi-Hazard Emergency Planning for Higher Education

Resources and Guidance

You can use the following resources to learn more about building teams and developing plans. Although organized according to venue, each contains ideas that are useful in any environment.

General:

Schools:

Institutions of Higher Education:

Houses of Worship:

Lesson Summary

You should now understand the importance of creating partnerships to plan for a secure and safe environment, and how these partnerships help you develop a plan by providing expertise and resources.

Subsequent lessons will discuss specific aspects of the environment that should be considered before, during, and after an incident.