This document outlines an agenda and scenario for a tabletop exercise on crisis management and the Incident Command System (ICS). The exercise will simulate responding to a severe weather event over several operational periods. Participants will assume ICS roles and use job action sheets, status reports, and planning assumptions to discuss response actions. The goal is to review ICS concepts, experience using the response structure and forms, and evaluate how the approach could be adapted within different organizations. The scenario involves a heat wave and incoming coastal storm forecast to cause power outages, flooding and infrastructure damage over multiple days.
1. Crisis Management:
What Will You Do?
Peg Graham, QUA INC
Technical Assistance Consultant
26th Annual Conference and Expo
2. 2
Goals:
• Review key ICS concepts
• Experience the use of Job Action Sheets and
Reports
• Determine the applicability of ICS to different
types of events
• Evaluate the amount of work required to
adapt this approach within your own
organization.
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4. 4
Thank You to Partners
• Bailey House
• Jewish Association Serving the
Aging
• Enterprise Community Partners, HUD
– Available on their website
– Date to be announced
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Traditionally: Fire safety, heat waves, cold snaps
Now: Loss of power, extreme weather, terrorism,
infectious diseases
Incident Command System (ICS)
◦ Learn from emergency planning professionals
◦ ICS Roles, Job Action Sheets, Planning Assumptions,
Checklists
Refocus efforts FROM FAMILIAR day-to-day routines
TO UNFAMILIAR Disaster response roles
ICS Capabilities
6. 6
What is a tabletop exercise?
Training for Real Life Event
Everyone on a learning curve, NO “right”
answers
Concludes with a hotwash session and
anonymous evaluation
Role Play a Specific Scenario
Details unfold over 7 days
Role play disaster response roles in a
facilitated discussion
Think Workshop
A review of concepts and resources Reaffirm disaster response roles
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7. 7
Materials to Consult
• Incident Command System (ICS) Chart
• Planning Assumptions, Job Action Sheets
• Readiness Reports: Housing/Client
Services
• Action Discussions: 3 of 9x
– 5-7 minutes each
• Table:
– Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
– General Administration
– Housing, Client Services
– Reporter 7
8. 8
• Tasks and activities
• Operational Periods
– Pre-Event (96-72-48-24-12 hours prior to
storm arrival)
– Event (Storm arrives)
– Post Event (Immediate-12-24 hours post
storm)
Job Action Sheets: ICS Role
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12
Address
# of # of Tenants Reporting Use of
PER CENT
Assume Will
Evacuate
Estimate
NUMBER
Evact'gStaff Units Tenants
Wheel
chair
Walker Cane Bed Bound
Special
Conditions
BLDG A 7 154 202 5 44 12 1 50% 101
BLDG B 24 547 800 21 59 15 3 50% 400
Evacuating (NUMBER)
Estimate
NUMBER
Sheltring
Sheltering (NUMBER) Building Operatioins
Wheel
chair
Walker Cane
Bed
Bound
Wheel
chair
Walker Cane
Bed
Bound Exp'cted
SHUTDWN
Date & Time
Exp'cted
REOPEN Date
& Time
101
400
READINESS REPORT: HOUSING
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13
READINESS REPORT: CLIENT PROGRAMS
Program Name
Site
Address
City, State,
Zip
Site
Phone
ACME
Point of
Contact
Point of
Contact Cell
Phone
Manage ment
Company
Mgt Company
Site Address
Mgt Company
City, State Zip
Mgt
Company
Phone
Senior Center 1 BX
Senior Center 2 BX
Name of Bldg
Contact
Bldg Company
Phone
Building
Count
# of Stories
Evac. Zone (1-
6)
# of Employees
on site
TOTAL # of
Clients
1 No Zone 3
1 1 No Zone 7 150
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ICS Concepts
• Knowledge of overall emergency preparedness by ALL
levels of an organization
• Knowledge of ICS roles and tasks by ALL staff
Common
Operating Picture
• Effect disaster is having on residents, staff, and building
structure is widely known.
Situational
Awareness
• Time periods before, during, and after the storm during
which the ICS is implemented. Discussed in terms of 96-
72-48-24-12 hours “out,” the event, and 12-24 hours post.
Operational
Periods
• Promulgated by Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) to guide government planning and training
• Sets expectations of performance
Capabilities
15. 15
Core Capabilities
• Cooperate across departments to solve problems
• Work in “unified” manner with external
stakeholders including vendors, Board members,
press and government agencies
Coordination
• Protocols, equipment and systems to stay
connected with Staff and External stakeholders
• Smartphones, CCTV, Social Media
• Floor Captains, Buddy System
Communication
• Collect and share disaster-related data
• Situational Awareness as disaster unfolds
Information
Sharing
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“ALL HAZARDS”
• Severe Storm tests
– Loss of Power
– Loss of Telecommunications
– Loss of Building Functionality
– Stress on staff
– Stress on tenants and clients
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Prior
Notice
vs.
Sudden
Onset
BUT
SAME
TOOLS
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Initial Facts
• 2014 and 2015
– Some hot weather, nothing extreme
• 2016
– July unusually warm and humid
– National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
– Excessive Heat Outlook on Sunday, July 31st
– Monday through Thursday, temperatures hit
99⁰
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12N Press Conference
Friday, Aug 5th
• 9am Planning call
– City agencies and major private sector
organizations
• Advanced Warning System
http://www.advancewarningsystemnyc.org/
• Review of Weather Forecast
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What do you do?
• Who is acting on this information?
• What actions are being taken?
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Saturday, August 6
• NYC EOC desks staffed
• OEM activates NYC Emergency
Operations Center
• Hospitals begin early discharge
• News coverage intensifies
• Reports of extremely high winds/rainfall
• Mandatory evacuation order issued for
Zones 1, 2 and 3 at 5pm.
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25. 25
Sunday, August 7
• News coverage intensifying
• City shelters operationalized
• NOAA: Expected Surge: 15 feet+
• Gale-force winds expected early Monday
• Grow in intensity throughout the day
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27. 27
Sunday, August 7 at 6pm
• News Conference
• Discussion of public school closure
• Projection of closing bridges/transit with
arrival of the winds sometime during the
day on Monday
• Intense Rainfall and surge expected
Tuesday at 11am
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Monday, August 8
• Gale Force winds at 8am
• Rain and 12 foot surge expected at 4am
Tuesday
• Storm expected to last 4 hours, wind
effects highly uncertain
• Cell towers inoperable in large sections
of the Bronx, Long Island
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Tuesday, August 9
• Surge of 12 feet hits Zone 1 at 3am
– Recedes by 6am
• Power out in the Bronx, Long Island
• Bridges and roads throughout the 5 boroughs
blocked with wind-blown debris
• Tremendous window damage in high rises in all 5
boroughs
• City hospital emergency rooms packed
• City Shelters at risk for losing power
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Wednesday, August 10
• Public and private schools remain
closed throughout the metropolitan area
• Major bridges cleared
– Surface roads remain blocked
• Heat Advisory issued:
• 100⁰ expected Thursday and Friday
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Thursday, August 11
• Sporadic school closures
– Depends on road accessibility
• Transit coming up in stages
• Cells-on-Wheels arriving in key areas of
the Bronx and Long Island
• Spontaneous volunteers appearing
• Temperature hits 100⁰ at 2pm
• Hospitals emergency departments
struggling 37
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EXERCISE SUMMARY
• Staff deployments?
• Decision-making?
• Communication with Each Other?
• Communication with Staff?
• Communication with Clients?
• Communication with External Parties?
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Based on the Information You
Have:
• How do you think it went overall?
• What did you learn from this Tabletop?
• What are the areas of concerns at this point?
• What action steps are needed, based on
lessons learned?
• Who has responsibility for each action step?
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Ask Leah, Elaine, Donald and Housing to describe what they would be doing per their normal emerg protocols
List them on the PostIts
Storm hits FL – NOAA messaging: “Interests elsewhere along the east coast of the United States“ advised to monitor the progress of Aviva.
NWS was warning that “the combination of a dangerous storm surge3 and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters;” surge ranging from 1 to 4 feet was predicted for the Bahamas, Florida, North Carolina and SE Virginia. By 5am Saturday, October 27, the NWS was reporting that Sandy was weakening but was expected to remain a large storm with widespread impacts; by 8am, hurricane winds were once again noted; and by 11am, predicted surge heights ranged from five to 8 feet for Long Island Sound and Raritan Bay. By 11pm on Saturday, NWS was predicting “strong winds and significant storm surge for mid‐Atlantic states and Southern New England. By 5am on Sunday, October 28th, the predicted surge height for Long Island Sound and Raritan Bay had increased to “5‐10’ range. At 8am on Sunday, the NWS warning changed to “life‐threatening storm surge flooding” to the Mid‐Atlantic coast...including Long Island Sound and New York Harbor......Winds expected to be near hurricane force at landfall” predicted to be “Monday night” and the storm surge prediction increased to 6‐11 feet.
By 11pm Sunday, the NWS was predicting hurricane force winds reaching Long Island by Monday. By 2pm on Monday, Sandy was accelerating with landfall expected in New Jersey later that evening. At 7pm, Sandy was down‐graded to “post‐tropical cyclone,” with maximum winds decreasing to 85mph. Storm surge heights of 12.4 feet were reported at Kings Point, NY and 7.2 feet at the Battery. “Total water levels will be even higher when high tide occurs.” At 8pm, the storm surge at Kings Point was 11.9 feet; 8.4 at the Battery. At 9pm, storm surge was reported at Kings Point to be 13.3 feet and Battery at 13.7 feet. At 11pm, Sandy was “still packing Hurricane‐force winds.”
Each Group: Write the 3 most important things to do right away
Identify if there are challenges to getting those things done and what will be done about that
Write 3 concerns that you have as this operational period ends:
How was timing of their ICS meetings and late announcement of evacuation order handled?
Are they in the right Operational Period?
Awareness of which properties and programs effected?
Number of clients/tenants effected?
Are JASA resources appropriate to the tasks ahead?
What is happening in non-evac properties and programs?
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