CHDS State/Local / The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) was formed to provide a cadre of trained medical volunteers to support and strengthen the public health infrastructure and improve its' emergency preparedness level. Training policies and standards are left to the discretion of the local MRC coordinator so the program maintains its flexibility to meet community needs. Training varies from unit to unit, and there are no protocols in place to measure or evaluate the effectiveness of that training. According to recent studies and surveys, disaster operations are an unfamiliar role for most MRC volunteers and the public health workforce in general. Evidence also suggests that few medical and public health workers receive this important preparedness training. In 2005, MRC working group members developed a list of core competency recommendations to provide training guidance, but specific educational content to satisfy those competencies were not defined. This thesis offers specific training content guidelines and strategies for achieving competency. The MRC must be able to integrate into the disaster environment while working safely, effectively and efficiently. Standards will set the mark for success, enabling the MRC to respond in a coordinated manner and at a consistently higher level to any public health emergency. / Captain, Texas State Guard-Medical Rangers

CHDS State/Local / Effective crisis management and communication is crucial during any catastrophic event, otherwise fear, panic, and mass hysteria can prevail. The public relies heavily on the government (police) and the media for information during a crisis. This thesis focuses on a joint police and media response plan and outlines a preparation plan to assist the public during a terrorist attack or similar crisis. Historically, the police and the media have had opposing views regarding sharing and disseminating information to the public. This report studies the inherent mistrust between both organizations and proposes strategies to overcome the suspicion and build a partnership. Proven community policing models within the Philadelphia Police Department are examined as a potential template for a police and media partnership. Survey results and focus group responses from the police, media, and the community are presented. This document examines national and international lessons learned and offers best practices on providing timely and accurate information, educating and informing the public, and improving communication and trust between the police and the media. The proposed police and media training curriculum breaks down the cultural barriers and develops mutual respect for each individual profession. / Captain, Philadelphia Police Department

CHDS State/Local / National and state homeland security strategies call for continuity of operations plan development. The 2006 Nationwide Plan Review Phase II Report identifies continuity of operations plan development as a state and local goal with a federal goal of providing continuity of operations plan development support. Most local governments do not have a continuity of operation plan or it needs to be updated. Continuity of operations plan guidance is provided by a variety of international, federal, state and local documents. Common, unique and best practice elements are identified and should be contained in a continuity of operations plan. An identified compilation of continuity of operation elements is presented. Planning templates are good for COOP document structure and should contain the compilation of COOP elements, a recommended template is offered. Local government continuity of operations plan developers must independently develop and "own" their continuity of operations plan based on the compilation COOP elements. An after action-report is a necessary component for continuity of operations plan maintenance and can be used for continuity of operations plan research. Academia must pursue continuity of operations plan research to qualitatively and quantitatively identify effective continuity of operations plans and their respective elements. With the advent of homeland security as an academic pursuit, research opportunity exists and should be supported by the federal government because of the critical nature of an effective COOP for local government in ensuring the continuity of essential functions during and after an event. / Chief of Police, Norwalk Police Department

CHDS State/Local / The analysis of domestic incidents of terrorism has revealed many gaps in our Nation's capability to effectively manage the multi-jurisdictional response. Although many gaps have been addressed through implementation of measures based on lessons learned, the most pervasive unresolved issue remains the ability to properly identify first response personnel on incident scenes. The nature of incidents of terrorism requires force protection to be a priority because of the threat of a secondary attack. Identity must be established and authenticated to protect responders and prevent infiltration to perpetrate a secondary attack. This thesis examines and evaluates several options for closing this pervasive identity management capability gap. The current decentralized identity system, a defined and typed response resource for identity management, and the federal identity project initiated under HSPD-12 are examined and evaluated as mechanisms for improving on-scene identity management in the response to incidents of terrorism. The thesis argues the development of a standardized nationwide responder identity token that can be rapidly authenticated and establishing dedicated identity management response resources are essential to improving the response multi-jurisdictional and catastrophic incidents of terrorism. / Corporal, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Frederick, Maryland

Advisor name noted incorrectly on document as "Bordertsky". / The objective of this thesis is to review and analyze the current Command and Control communications used by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and provide best business practices of Emergency Preparedness and Response Systems capable of responding to all public health emergencies, act of terrorism and mass casualty incidents. Natural and man-made disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, plane crashes, high-rise building collapses, or major nuclear facility malfunctions, pose an ever-present danger challenge to public emergency services. In order to manage such disasters in a rapid and highly efficient and coordinated manner, the optimal provisions of information concerning any crisis situation is an essential pre-requisite. Local Police, Fire departments, Public Health Department, Civil Defense, Military and other emergency response organizations must react efficiently yet individually but most importantly, in a coordinated manner. These results in the necessity for both intra and inter organization coordination at several hierarchy levels. Since coordination requires current information, such information must be communicated within and between organizations in real-time, the need arises for an integrated communication and information system solely designated or disaster management that provides processing of relevant efficient, reliable and secure exchange of information.

This study bridges the narrow divide between collaboration theory and networking and views organizations as a source of collaborative processes. Social network analysis is applied to determine how the Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group (TEW) evolved from a small group of actors to a diverse, county-wide network bridging public-private, local-state-federal, and functional divides. The TEW demonstrates an example of organizational problem solving where a network facilitated collaboration in a wickedly complex and uncertain environment. The network's consensus-based innovation, collaborative processes, and meta-leadership helped the network evolve. These factors strengthened the collaborative ethos of the network and set the stage for success as the network meets current and future challenges. The TEW's bottom-up, consensus-based network expansion contrasts sharply with top-down collaborative approaches, such as the creation of the National Counterterrorism Center and Department of Homeland Security. Lessons from the TEW's well-paced evolution provide insight into how to facilitate collaborative action and build collaborative capacity for the future.

<p>U uslovima krize pokazalo se da je za mala i srednja preduzeća najbitnije &scaron;irenje trţi&scaron;ta i da Akt EU o malim i srednjem preduzećima ne utiĉe na uspe&scaron;nost njihovog poslovanja.</p> / <p>In the crisis conditiones market spreading is crutial for small and midle firms business success.</p>

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / The overall objective of this research is to develop a business continuity plan for a relatively large livestock company located in Francophone West Africa. This is very important in an environment when both internal and external risks can lead to significant disruptions in the business processes. The research, thus, focuses on developing a process that can be applied to establish a business continuity management process in this firm and provides the framework for implementing such a plan successfully. The livestock company, let us call it Livestock Co. to protect its identity, wants to define strategies for recovery, resumption of business and other key activities under the potential scenarios. Its managers desire to formulate crisis response strategies that would be implemented quickly when these disasters hit. The thesis envisages the potential conditions that may trigger these crises and develops the management systems to mitigate them, returning the business to it activities as quickly as possible. Some of the natural disasters that may be considered are fire, accidents and political upheavals. Some technical disasters that may be imagined may be related to infrastructure, labor crisis, and grain dust explosions. Unlike natural disasters, which often are uncertain, technical disasters can be predicted based on careful assessment of the environment or the assets. The research evaluates the process for developing a business continuity management plan and offers an implementation process to ensure its smooth execution.

Crisis management is a dynamic science. This is particularly true for developing world countries like Kenya. The aim of this work is to contribute to the prevention or minimization of risks and possibly to manage their consequences within the project of the Czech medical facility Itibo in the southwestern part of Kenya. This facility, thanks to a group of enthusiasts and support of many people, helped tens of thousands of patients since 2005 who would otherwise not have access to health care. In the framework of the thesis, a risk analysis was elaborated based on a local survey, which was subsequently evaluated, and its results used to create a "Plan of preparedness for emergencies." The plan is a practically applicable tool for managing non-standard situations that occur relatively frequently in the project site. An essential part was the active involvement of the author in the actual functioning of the Itibo healthcare facility in the form of an internship. The main benefit of the work is a plan intended for health-educated persons, who mostly do not have knowledge in the field of crisis management. The benefit is also an insight into the issue of crisis management in the area of health care in another country, which is very different in most of its parameters.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'optimisation de la logistique sanitaire pour soutenir les plans de gestion de crise afin de réduire les effets des catastrophes naturelles et/ou humaines en termes de santé publique. Les catastrophes naturelles peuvent être prédites, mais elles sont difficiles à éviter. Par conséquence, la prise en charge des victimes potentielles et le dimensionnement des moyens logistiques de secours y afférent sont d'une importance cruciale. Une approche analytique en trois étapes est proposée afin d'étudier le dimensionnement des ressources et l'organisation des plans de gestion de crise (plan blanc) d’origine naturelle. La première étape propose un modèle de référence pour concevoir un plan de gestion de crise. La deuxième étape considère un modèle d’optimisation linéaire pour prédire le nombre de ressources nécessaires. La dernière étape présente un modèle dynamique pour simuler l'ensemble de l’organisation de manière fine. L'évacuation d’un hôpital dans le cadre d’un plan blanc étendu à plusieurs hôpitaux pour faire face à un tsunami fluvial a été considérée comme scénario pour évaluer la justesse de notre approche. Les catastrophes d'origine humaine et la propagation des maladies peuvent donner lieu à des désastres de grande ampleur qui mobilisent de nombreuses ressources humaines et matérielles. Par exemple, un modèle de réponse logistique face à une attaque bioterroriste avec un agent non-contagieux ainsi qu’un modèle pour la réponse logistique aux épidémies ont été proposés. Elles traduisent un problème de gestion d’inventaire multi-échelons et multi-périodes. Ces deux modèles dynamiques de flux requièrent une optimisation linéaire et une optimisation non-linéaire respectivement. Ils intègrent les caractéristiques de la gestion de ces catastrophes: la propagation de l’infection ou de la maladie, les réponses médicales appropriées et le déploiement de la logistique associée. Avec ces deux modèles, le nombre de patients aux différents stades de la maladie et le nombre des ressources médicales nécessaires pour chaque période peuvent être calculés. Les facteurs qui influent sur le nombre de décès et l’efficience des différentes politiques d'intervention médicale, peuvent également être évalués. Les deux modèles peuvent ainsi aider les décideurs à prévoir les conséquences de la situation en cas de catastrophe ainsi que de connaître les informations d'une réponse pertinente, ceci à un niveau stratégique. Une réponse logistique à une attaque bioterroriste anonyme à l'anthrax dans un centre commercial et une réponse logistique à une pandémie H5N1 sont pris comme scénarios pour tester l'efficacité des modèles correspondants. / This thesis is devoted to optimize the health care logistics which can support emergency management plans to reduce the impacts of natural and/or man-made disasters. After the review of relevant papers, two main gaps have been found in the current studies. One is that most of the researches are not based on real cases. The other is that some main characteristics of disasters are neglected when disasters are studied. Therefore, based on real case scenarios, the thesis studies different disasters (natural and/or man-made disasters) separately according to the characteristics of disasters. Natural disasters may be predicted but are difficult to avoid. Therefore, the evacuation of potential victims and the dimensioning of relief resources are crucially important. A three-step approach is proposed to study the resource dimensioning and the organization of emergency management plan (French White Plan) facing natural disasters. In our three-step approach, the first step builds a framework model to get the insights of emergency management plan clearly. The second step establishes a global model (a linear model) to predict the quantity of required resources for evacuation. The third step proposes a detailed simulation model to reflect the real world more precisely. The hospital evacuation under the guidance of a French Extended White Plan in case of a flood has been taken as a real case scenario to test the correctness of our approach. The man-made disasters and the outbreak of diseases can be large-scale disasters which require a high demand of resources. In this thesis, a model for logistics response to bioterrorist attack with a non-contagious agent and another model for the logistics response to epidemics have been proposed. Multi-period and multi-echelon inventory management problems have been studied. The two models (a linear model and a non linear model respectively) combine the main characteristics of disasters: the propagation of the disease, the relevant medical interventions and the logistics deployment together. The number of patients in different disease stages and the required medical resources for each period can be estimated. The factors affecting the number of deaths and the different medical intervention policies can also be evaluated with the two models. With the help of the models, the decision makers can get an idea of the disaster situation and the relevant medical responses from a strategy level. A logistics response to an anonymous bioterrorist attack with anthrax to a shopping center and the logistics response to the outbreak of H5N1 are taken as real case scenarios to test the effectiveness of the models respectively.