Assignment: Elements of a Contingency Plan

 The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1600 “Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs” is the gold standard in emergency management and business contingency planning for both the public and the private sector. This concise standard provides the basis for the national Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). The standard is updated every few years and describes the essential elements for successful contingency planning. Two of the key elements of a successful, or blue-ribbon, contingency plan are success and interdependency. Success may be described as resiliency, or the ability of a region, community, or organization to quickly resume normal services or operations after a disaster, reducing the negative, long-term consequences of the event. Interdependency means that contingency planning must also take into account how reliant and therefore, vulnerable your community or organization is with regard to goods, services, or other assistance supplied from external sources. In the readings this week, you explore these and other elements of successful contingency planning and consider which elements you might include in a contingency plan for your community. 

To prepare for this assignment:

• Review the assigned pages of the online article, “NFPA 1600 Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs.” Reflect on the program elements and processes described as essential for an effective emergency management or business continuity program.
• Review the online article, “Regional Disaster Resilience: A Guide for Developing an Action Plan.” Pay special attention to the focus areas and implementation challenges of an action plan (contingency plan) for regional disaster resilience. In addition, reflect on the concepts of interdependency and resiliency in the homeland security context, as described in this guide.
• Select a hazard or a terrorist event that could affect your state or region. (Arkansas)
• Think of at least three elements you would include in a contingency plan to ensure continuity of operations and government and the provision of mass care, depending on the hazard or the terrorist event you selected.
• Analyze how each element would ensure mass care and continuity of operations and government.
• Consider the importance of each element of the contingency plan.

The assignment: (2pages)

• Briefly describe a hazard or a terrorist event that could affect your state or region.
• Based on the hazard or terrorist event you identified, describe at least three elements you would include in a contingency plan to ensure continuity of operations and government and the provision of mass care. Be sure to explain why you chose each element.
• Explain how each element would ensure mass care and continuity of operations and government.
• Explain the importance of each element in the contingency plan. Be specific.

  Required Readings 

National Fire Protection Association. (2007). NFPA 1600 Standard on disaster/emergency management and business continuity programs. Retrieved from http://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/document-information-pages?mode=code&code=1600
Note: You are only required to read pages 1–8 of this article.

  The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP). (2006). Regional disaster resilience: A guide for developing an action plan. Retrieved from http://tisp.org/index.cfm?cdid=10962&pid=10261