I
Introduction:
A. Rapid
Response Teams (RRTs) can be individuals, organized groups, or ad hoc groups of
local emergency management professionals who, in the event of a disaster, can
quickly deploy to impacted areas to provide temporary assistance to impacted state,
county or municipal emergency operations.
B. In
Florida, the magnitude of a
disaster may be such that local or state emergency management personnel are
unable to fully meet the needs of the impacted community without the assistance
of trained disaster management professionals from outside their own
agency.? This is a team approach to
providing the best possible assistance to both the community and the State
Emergency Response Team.
II
Assumptions:
Following major or catastrophic disasters, impacted
local governments may require assistance for the management of functions
critical to the continued health and safety of the community and to the
immediate response / recovery phases of the event.? Depending on the severity and scope of the
disaster, state emergency management personnel may not be available to provide
all the necessary assistance to the impacted area(s); local government
employees may be requested to assist in the management of local or state
response / recovery activities.
III
Purpose:
A. To
describe the procedures for activating Florida?s
Rapid Response Teams (RRTs).
B. To
provide the user with clear guidance for contacting potential response team
members from counties or local emergency management agencies which are
signatories of either the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) or Florida?s
State-wide Mutual Aid Agreement (SMAA).
C. To
provide clear guidance for gauging the potential team members? ability to
deploy.
D. Identify
the responsibilities for supporting agency, responding agency and the Division
of Emergency Management.
E. To
provide reimbursement guidelines.
IV
Scope:
This procedure is applicable to the Florida Division
of Emergency Management, all county Emergency Management agencies and personnel
requesting Rapid Response Team assistance or providing assistance under the
Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement.
V
References and
Authorities.
A. The
State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan
B. Section
252.36, Florida Statutes, Emergency Management Powers of the Governor
C. Section
252.35, Florida Statutes, Emergency Management Powers; Division of Emergency
Management.
D. Section
252.39, Florida Statutes, Local Services.
E. Section
252.40, Florida Statutes, Mutual Aid Arrangements.
F. ?Section 252.41, Florida Statutes, Emergency
Management Support Forces.
G. Section
252.921 -933, Florida Statutes, Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
H. Emergency
Management Assistance Compact, 1996.
I.
The Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement for Catastrophic
Disaster Response and Recovery (April, 1994 as Amended by Modification #1,
October 1994).
J. The
State of Florida "Internal Standard Operating Procedure for Support of the
Emergency Management Assistance Compact."
K. The
State of Florida Mutual Aid Standard Operating Procedure.
L. The
State of Florida Logistics Section Standard Operating Procedure for Mutual Aid.
M. Memorandum:
SMAA Mutual Aid Responder Claim Guidance, dated May 5, 2000
VI
Concept of
Operations
A. General
1. Rapid
Response Teams (Rapid Response Teams) are intended to provide augmentation
personnel to assist impacted states, counties or municipalities during the
immediate response and recovery phases of a disaster.? Team members are intended to deploy either
directly into a stricken area or to an administrative area, such as a
Logistical Staging Areas, Emergency Operations Centers, Disaster Recovery
Centers, or other sites in order to assist local, state or Federal emergency
managers in meeting the challenges brought on by the disaster.
2. Rapid
Response Teams are requested by the impacted county or state through the State
Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) and approved by the State Emergency Response
Team (SERT) Chief and will be organized by the Mutual Aid Branch Chief or
designee.? The Mutual Aid Branch Chief or designee will
contact potential Rapid Response Team members to advise them of the need for
their particular expertise.? Rapid
Response Team members will be given the opportunity to make any necessary
internal coordination to ensure their availability.? Once those arrangements have been made and
confirmed, Rapid Response Team members will be formally requested, through a
State mission, to deploy to the impacted location for the specified period of
time.
3. Due
to the changing nature of emergency response missions, the Mutual Aid Branch
Chief or designee may only be able to give a broad outline of the support
needed, with a description of the probable duties being limited to such scant
information as ?working in a logistics area? or ?working in an Emergency
Operations Center?.? However, an on-scene
contact and information which identifies the financially responsible agency
(that unit of government responsible for ensuring that Rapid Response Team
members are reimbursed for their eligible expenses) will be provided to
deploying Rapid Response Team members prior to departure (see Attachment 3).
4. Further
coordination will be made as necessary by the SERT Chief or designee to provide
deploying Rapid Response Team members with any applicable training in newly
instituted policies or procedures that might assist them in their duties.? This will be especially true in instances
when the EMAC agreements are implemented, since response and recovery
procedures can vary widely between signatory states.
B. Selection:????????? DEM Area Coordinators as well as other
senior DEM staff will make recommendations based on identified County EM
personnel.? County Emergency Management
Directors will identify / recommend members of there staff and other county or
municipal agency personnel or those with emergency management duties to be
members of the Rapid Response Team.? A
current list of potential Rapid Response Team members is provided as Attachment
4 to this SOP.? This list will be updated
after disaster events or at a minimum annually.?
Rapid Response Team members will maintain their availability and
qualifications by updating periodically a database maintained by DEM for this
purpose.
1. The
known capabilities and technical characteristics of potential Rapid Response
Team members/units in relation to the necessary functions to be performed will
play a major role in the selection process, as will the level of development of
those local or regional teams and their capabilities in providing specific
types of assistance or expertise.? Other
selection criteria may be utilized as well.
2.
Rapid Response Team personnel will be selected from
non-impacted counties.? The determination
of ?non-impacted counties? will be made by officials in the SEOC in
consultation with the emergency management officials of those counties.? Rapid Response Team activities are
accomplished using non-impacted county personnel; and may include qualified
personnel from other states who have signed mutual aid agreements in
cooperation with the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
3.
Rapid Response Team personnel will only be selected
from existing lists of counties and municipalities with approved Statewide
Mutual Aid Agreements.? These agreements
will be used to provide a request and the basis for any reimbursement mechanism
available for participating agencies and local governments (see Section X,
Reimbursement).? Not all positions or
expenses are reimbursable.? The
requesting authority, an impacted county or the State EOC may request Rapid
Response Team members to perform a variety of functions.? To a great extent, Statewide Mutual Aid
Agreements signed between counties and the state will determine the level of
assistance possible and the funding mechanisms to be used for reimbursing the
unit of government providing assistance.?
Requests for mutual aid will normally originate at the county level.
C. Notification:
????
1. Rapid
Response Team members will be activated in one of two ways:
a) either
by a request from the county EOC through the SEOC, or
b) At
the request of the SERT Chief.?
Notification requests will be made by DEM to the appropriate authorities
of county, municipal or other agencies.?
In certain situations SERT Chief may choose to activate Rapid Response
Team personnel prior to receiving a request for assistance from an impacted
area.
2. Once
the SERT Chief has established the likelihood of the need for Rapid Response
Team personnel, an initial request will be made to potential Rapid Response
Team members to assess their availability and response time.? That initial request will not
constitute authorization for activation of a Rapid Response Team member.? It will provide a list of the potential Rapid
Response Team member-pool for use by the SERT Chief to make his final requests
from.? During the initial telephone call
or E-mail message, the potential Rapid Response Team member will be briefly
appraised of the situation and the possible specialties and geographic location
of his/her assignment in order to make the necessary internal
coordination.? If available, the
financially responsible agency will be identified to the potential Rapid
Response Team member.? The potential
Rapid Response Team member will be provided a time period of no less than
two hours to discuss the situation with his/her supervisor to ensure that
the SEOC-requested deployment will be locally authorized.
3. Once
the list of potential Rapid Response Team members is provided to the SERT
Chief, and an initial selection is made from the list, the Mutual Aid Branch
Chief or designee will contact the Rapid Response Team members to confirm that
their authorization for deployment has been approved.? A State mission will be finalized (see
Attachment 3) formally requesting the individual, which includes the SEOC EM
Tracker message number and other detailed information concerning the reporting
location, deployment duration, probable duties, an on-scene contact telephone
and will be accessible by each Rapid Response Team member on the SEOC Message
system. Personnel not selected for the Rapid Response Team during the initial
response, or who are not able to deploy for the initial period, may be requested
to deploy at a later date in order to provide Rapid Response Team augmentation
support to the impacted area on a rotational basis.
D. Utilization:???????? There are at least three broad areas of
possible Rapid Response Team utilization.?
1. First
is in an impacted county?s EOC or the SEOC serving to augment or temporarily
replace regular EM staff.? County EOC?s
have primary responsibility for emergency management activities.? In view of their day-to-day duties, county EM
directors and their staff are uniquely qualified to perform this mission in
other counties, and may be called upon to do so before state personnel are
called.? Rapid Response Team members may
also be introduced into an impacted county as SERT Liaisons intended to serve
as the link between the impacted county and the SEOC for information and
requests processing.? This would not
preclude DEM from introducing a state employee as a liaison into a county EOC
prior to or after an event.? Finally,
administrative support personnel may be requested to participate as part of a
Rapid Response Team to augment staff in either the impacted county EOC or the
SEOC, or to support other Rapid Response Team missions.
2.
Second, logistics bases; staging areas, local
volunteers and donations staging areas; mutual aid staging areas, or regional
relief centers all have common functions that include receipt, storage,
coordination and shipment of a wide variety of items intended to benefit the
impacted area.? Emergency management
personnel trained or experienced in staging area operations will be selected to
assist in these operations.? DEM standard
operating procedures have been developed for the operation of these staging
support facilities.
3.
Third, Rapid Response Team utilization in recovery
operations may include, at a minimum, conducting damage assessments of the
impacted area, involvement in the operation of Disaster Recovery Centers or
joint DEM/FEMA Recovery Information Centers.?
Other recovery operations may also require the aid of Rapid Response
Team members.
E. Replacement:??? Rapid Response Team members will generally
be asked to deploy for a minimum period of seven days.? A likely scenario would allow for one day of
travel time, five days of training/activity in the impacted area, and a period
to out-process through the DEM Finance and Logistics section on the morning of
day seven before returning home.?
Follow-on Rapid Response Team members, if required, will be requested to
make their travel arrangements so as to provide for a one-day (day six) overlap
in their expected duties with departing Rapid Response Team members.? DEM will appoint a Mutual Aid Branch Chief
for each shift during SEOC activation to organize Rapid Response Team staffing
and scheduling.
VII
Responsibilities:???????
A. Deploying
agencies:
1. Will
ensure that all personnel are able to sustain themselves for the entire period
of their deployment.?
2. At
a minimum, this will include providing their own transportation; carrying their
own sleeping gear, personal hygiene items, food and water, sufficient clothing,
appropriate credit cards, a limited supply of personal cash, cellular
telephones, and pagers.? Deploying
personnel must be physically and mentally prepared to conduct operations in a
strenuous and austere environment offering few amenities.
B. Receiving
agencies:
1. Will
ensure that deploying personnel are received and briefed regarding the local
situation and their expected duties, and that they are provided the maximum
administrative and logistical support possible.?
2. Provide
fuel for vehicles, sleeping and hygiene accommodations to the maximum extent
possible in keeping with local conditions.?
3. Most
importantly, the receiving agencies will develop a short situation brief for
incoming Rapid Response Team personnel to present locally useful information
such as:
a) The
current situation;
b) The
specific duties, responsibilities and authorities of Rapid Response Team
members; and
c) Local
agency telephone numbers and individuals to contact throughout the Rapid
Response Teams members? assignment.
4. Are
responsible for fully coordinating with the SEOC for any follow-on Rapid
Response Team members required.?
5. Must
be aware of the procedures required for documenting labor force costs that are
listed in the Memorandum: SMAA Mutual Aid Responder Claim Guidance, dated May
5, 2000
C. All
agencies throughout the state are encouraged to develop lists of items
potential Rapid Response Team members should have on-hand in order to
facilitate their deployment with little notice.?
Similarly, agencies are encouraged to develop internal working documents
outlining their procedures to both deploy and receive Rapid Response Team
members.
D. Reimbursement:??????????? Statewide Mutual Aid Agreements
(SMAA) for catastrophic disaster response are entered into between DEM and
political subdivisions of the state to provide signatory agencies an avenue to
seek reciprocal emergency aid and assistance from other units of government in
the case of a local or area emergency.?
1. Under
these agreements, it is the duty of each local emergency management agency to
render reciprocal aid and assistance to the fullest extent possible.? In the event of an emergency, the DEM may
make available any equipment, services, or facilities owned or organized by the
state or its political subdivisions, or recognized and accredited relief agencies
for use in the affected area upon request of duly constituted authorities.
2. SMAAs
are authorized under The State Emergency Management Act, Chapter 252, Florida
Statutes.? SMAAs enhance the ability of
local governments to receive needed resources more rapidly than might otherwise
be possible.? They also expedite
disaster-related reimbursements for local governments participating in the SMAA
program.? If local governments requiring
assistance are not signatories to the SMAA or other mutual aid agreements, and
the assistance required is available within the State of Florida, the DEM will
provide technical assistance to execute the SMAA or other mutual aid agreement.
E. Resource
Management: The Department of Community
Affairs, North Florida Recovery Office has produced a memorandum titled
Statewide Mutual Aid Agreement (SMAA) Mutual Aid Responder Claim Guidance dated
5 May 2000.? The purpose of this document
is to provide procedures for mutual aid responders to claim reimbursement and
expenses.
1. The
costs of staging assets or personnel prior to assignment shall be borne by the
providing agency.? Once such assets have
been deployed, the associated cost is assigned to the agency, county or
municipality requesting the resource.
2. If
a county or municipality makes a request for a Rapid Response Team, the requesting
county/municipality is the agent responsible for coordination of payment of all
eligible reimbursements, even though the request must be routed through the
SEOC.
3. If
the Rapid Response Team is activated by the SEOC for support to a state
mission, such as SEOC augmentation, assignment to a Logistics Staging Area,
etc., it becomes the responsibility of the State (DEM) to coordinate payment of
all eligible reimbursements.? As always,
these restrictions apply regardless of receipt of a federal disaster
declaration.
Annex A Training/Certification:?
A. DEM,
FEMA, the American Red Cross and other disaster relief agencies offer courses
in emergency management issues and techniques throughout the year.? All emergency management personnel, and
others who may become involved in disaster response or recovery actions, are
encouraged to attend these training opportunities.
B. Certification
requirements. Lack of any formal training should not deny a Rapid Response Team
member from being deployed if the experience is there.? To? be
considered fully capable and to establish a professional level of competence
these standards should be attained:
1) Be
a county or municipal emergency management official or designated by the County
Emergency Management Director to have Emergency Management duties.
2) Disaster
work experience.
3) Take
the following core EM related training:
a) Basic
Incident Command (self study, locally taught, Fire training or Forestry)
b) Principles
of Emergency Management
c) Disaster
Response and Recovery Operations
d) EOC
Management and Operations
e) ICS/EOC
Interface
f)
Managing Emergency Operations
g) Damage
Assessment
4) Attend
a Rapid Response Team Orientation training session.
a) The
Rapid Response Team Orientation will be offered periodically and will consist
of an eight hour training session.
b) Rapid
Response Team Orientation Training curriculum
?
Rapid Response Team Concept
?
Activating the Rapid Response Team
?
Roles and responsibilities- Mutual Aid Branch
?
Roles and responsibilities - Deploying agency
?
Roles and responsibilities - Receiving agency
?
Deployment assignments
?
Duties of Response Liaison
?
Duties of the Mutual Aid Unit Leader
5) Obtain
Specialized training as desired:
a) PIO
b) Donations
Management
c) SERT
Liaison
d) LSA
Manager
e) Damage
Assessment Coordinator
f)
Human Services Chief (local level)
g) Others?
C. DEM
will provide all Rapid Response Team members an update on current and evolving
issues and rules.? Before Rapid Response
Team personnel enter a disaster area on behalf of the state, they will be provided
with a block of instruction in any new techniques or administrative changes
concerning recovery operations.? These
training sessions may occur at the SEOC, the Forward SERT location, logistics
areas; recovery sites, or at some other location appropriate to the event.
D. The
Rapid Response Team concept should be exercised during annual hurricane drills
sponsored by either local emergency management offices or by the state.? These drills should be designed to include,
at a minimum, activation of Rapid Response Team personnel, processes for their
deployment and involvement in actual missions which might be assigned to them
as a result of an emergency event.?
Drills and other exercises sponsored by local emergency management
agencies or regional affiliations are encouraged, and DEM will participate in
them to the fullest extent possible.
Rapid Response Team
Impacted Area Requirements
Date:__________
Time:_________?? By:_________ SERT
Chief_______
Instructions:? The Mutual Aid Branch Chief or designee will
use this form to consolidate Mutual Aid requests for Rapid Response Team
support and record approval of those requests by the SERT Chief before
contacting local personnel or agencies.
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County/
Dates Needed
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Local Requirement
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Local Contact? & Location
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Contact Telephone Number
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Additional Instructions
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Attachment
1
Rapid
Response Team
Availability
Call List
Date: ______________ Time: ____________?
By: ___________________________
Instructions: The Mutual Aid Branch Chief or designee will
use this form to document initial contact with potential Rapid Response Team
members and then to record the time subsequent calls were made and when
official notification Faxes were sent.?
Note the mission and any additional equipment or other
requirements.? Allow a minimum of two hours between initial
and follow-up telephone calls for local coordination.
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Individual Contacted
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Agency / County or other source
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Telephone number
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Times called
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Time recalled/ available? ?Confirmation fax sent at.
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Mission:
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Response:
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Individual Contacted
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Agency / County or other source
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Telephone number
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Times called
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Time recalled/ available?? Confirmation fax sent at.
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Mission:
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Response:
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Individual Contacted
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Agency / County or other source
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Telephone number
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Times called
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Time recalled/ available?? Confirmation fax sent at.
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Mission:
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Response:
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Attachment 2
M E M O R A N
D U M
TO: ????????????????? Rapid
Response Team Members
Rapid Response Team
Requesting Agency
FROM:??????????
______________________________, Florida State Emergency Operations
Center????
SUBJECT:???????? Rapid
Response Team Personnel Deployment Confirmation
DATE:
______________________________________________________________________________
The following personnel have been selected to deploy to the
listed locations for the period shown.?
The SEOC EM Tracker message number for this action is
_____________________.? The financially
responsible agency is _____________________________________________________.
All Rapid Response Team members should ensure they have a
vehicle, personal supplies sufficient for the duration of their deployment,
appropriate credit cards, a limited amount of personal cash, cellular telephone
and pager.? Contact the Mutual Aid Branch
Chief or designee at (850- 410-0694/0695) upon arrival at your deployment
location.? Any individual / agency
specific equipment required is also listed.?
Ensure follow-on replacements, if necessary, are coordinated with the
SEOC by the receiving agency.
|
Name/Agency of Person deployed
|
Location/county Deployed to:
|
Probable Duties
|
On Scene contact / phone number
|
Deployment Dates
|
Notes
|
From:
To:
|
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Name/Agency of Person deployed
|
Location/county Deployed to:
|
Probable Duties
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