Question

Research a functional annex of an emergency operations plan. Describe at least two key aspects of the annex. Who would need to be familiar with this functional annex and why?

Answer 1

Functional Annex of an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP):

Major components of EOP are Events, Probability of Events, Severity, Risk. Each component is given scores at a 4-point or a 5-point scale. Mitigation actions are documented based on the overall risk scores. This risk assessment plan or EOP gives a basic outline of what the potential occurences are and action taken to mitigate them.

1. Annexes are part of EOPs that gives directions, roles and responsibilities of a particulat aspect of the operation which is part of the overall EOP. Annexes must contain the definition of policies, action steps, roles and responsibilities pertaining to various functions of occurences before and after the emergency period. As part of planning, the organization must differentiate the basic plan and annex and this must be a well thought through process.

2. Some of the functions that can be part of functional annex are comminications, emergency response, resource planning and management. These are just examples and the list can vary depending on the type of businesses. For example, functional annex of a medical/hospital EOP will have communication, emergency response, evacuation, critical care (trauma/others), evacuation.

Following is the list of stakeholders who need to be familiarized with the Annex plan. This again is not an exhaustive list and the list may vary depending on the type of industry/businesss

1. Operational Staff/Ground Staff: The chief of operations will have a plan of critical resources who can be immediate responders during emergency. These resources are the first one to respond during any emergency

2. CFO/Chief of Finance Department: This person is key to determine costs involved for mitigating the emergency situation. He/She is also responsible to ensure availability of cash flow which is critical for the organization

3. Health and Safety Officer: Role of HS officer is to ensure safety of the ground staff and immediate responders

4. Public Relations Officer: This person serves as the spokesperson of the organization to parties external to the organization. The external parties can be other organizations, media, local government or general public.