The ability to identify threats to our personal safety and local economy is the first step to protecting these highly valued aspects of life. Minimizing the potential impact from these threats whether they be naturally occurring such as disease, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, floods, droughts and blizzards or man-made such as war, terrorism, civil unrest, sabotage, theft, contamination, computer intrusion, financial market collapse, significant mechanical failures and human errors is key to protecting and preserving the things we value most. The best way to minimize the potential impact from these hazards is to develop and implement a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP). This contingency plan will enable a public or private sector organization to continue to perform essential functions which the community depends on for sustaining their personal safety, source of income and high quality of life.

Critical Incident Solutions specializes in assisting the public and private sector with developing, reviewing and evaluating an organization’s Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP). Training courses which highlight core concepts that must be included in a viable COOP can be provided by our professional instructors to staff members in order to facilitate plan development. A subsequent review and evaluation of the COOP can be accomplished through plan analysis and training to include table- top exercises, functional drills and full-scale exercises conducted by our professional facilitators. The viability of an organization’s COOP will be sustained through continued review and improvement as the organization, personnel, technology and surrounding conditions all continue to change.

Critical Incident Solutions will provide COOP training that addresses vital areas of contingency planning which includes communications, evacuation procedures, personnel accountability, water and food supply, transportation, fuel supply, electrical power generation, information technology and data recovery, housing and childcare, security control and hazard mitigation, emergency police/fire/medical services, banking and financial services, and government resources. The vulnerability survey and impact analysis, which our company provides, will highlight vital areas of concern for an organization to focus on during COOP development and improvement. A prioritized list of recommendations based on the degree of severity and magnitude of the potential impact from naturally occurring and man-made hazards can be developed specifically for the client upon completion of a thorough COOP training and analysis program.

Many organizations rely heavily on other departments, agencies and vendors for support. During a crisis situation, those entities may be facing similar problems and may not be able to provide the resources and support necessary. Thus, redundancy must be built into contingency planning. Establishing multiple layers of contingencies and back-up systems is vital to having a viable COOP. Also, coordination must occur between entities in the early stages of plan development and agreements must be documented and updated regularly.

Also, too many organizations relying on the same limited resources can cause a major problem when those resources become unavailable based on extensive demand or a lack of coordinated planning. Thus, an overall analysis of area or regional plans must be conducted. This analysis should insure that interdependencies between organizations are highlighted and appropriate actions are taken to support these critical links. Gaps or inconsistencies must be identified and corrective actions taken. An integration of COOPs from key organizations within the area or region should be implemented to insure that the prioritization of assets does not leave any organization without access to vital contingency resources and facilities. Critical Incident Solutions can assist with this overall analysis and make recommendations for corrective actions that can be taken to resolve problems that are detected during the analysis phase.

General Services Administration (GSA), Washington, D.C. (currently ongoing):
CIS is currently reviewing GSA COOP plans and documentation in order to identify opportunities for improvement using federal guidelines and industry best practices. Based on this analysis, recommendations, templates and checklists will be provided to the client to better prepare agency personnel to react to an emergency by addressing issues such as staffing, COOP plan viability and resource acquisition prior to the occurrence of any emergency that could impact the agency and disrupt its mission essential functions.

CIS will also provide training to key leaders and mission critical personnel on how to use the improved COOP plan and practical aspects of maintaining a high degree of readiness to be able to handle any emergency. A functional exercise will also be conducted in order to assist in the evaluation of current plans and capabilities of agency personnel to continue essential functions during a crisis. The exercise will be followed up with a hot-wash evaluation and professional assessment including proposed modifications to the COOP plan based on lessons learned.

Florida Department of Health
Tallahassee, Florida (April 2007):

Critical Incident Solutions recently provided assistance to the State of Florida by conducting reviews of existing Continuity of Operations Plans and making appropriate recommendations. This effort included review of several key division/office plans as well as overall department plans. A Gap Analysis was conducted to compare existing plans with each other for consistency against a set of established standards. These standards included the Florida Division of Emergency Management COOP Implementation Guidance, FEMA Federal Preparedness Circular 65 and industry best practices. The review process included consideration of core concepts and operational procedures needed to maintain viable Emergency Operations Plans, Day-to-Day Operations and Continuity of Operations. Personnel roles and responsibilities, chain of command, span of control, unity of command and other NIMS-ICS principles were part of these considerations. The plan review process included a focus on worst case scenarios such as a natural disaster (hurricane) impacting the state during a pandemic outbreak. CIS provided a very thorough and beneficial analysis of existing department and division/office plans. The company also provided comprehensive final reports which highlighted specific planning areas in need of attention and recommendations for follow up actions. CIS program managers and consultants maintained the highest level of professionalism and were quick to respond to the client's needs throughout the contract period.

State of Florida
(Miami-Dade County, Alachua County, FIU):

CIS has trained multiple clients in understanding COOP core concepts and assisted numerous government and private agencies in developing their Continuity of Operations Plan. Our company has recently worked with Miami-Dade and Alachua counties in Florida as well as Florida International University (FIU). We have also assisted clients in evaluating their COOP by conducting practical exercises, which is essential to demonstrating, assessing and improving an agency's capabilities in plan execution.

Critical Incident Solutions conducted training at a Key Leader Seminar for Florida International University administrative staff and emergency response team leaders at a 2-day retreat. This training included key concepts and practical applications involving threat assessments, vulnerability surveys, emergency response operations, continuity of operations planning and the Incident Command System. CIS subsequently assisted the FIU Police Department in developing a robust COOP to be used for managing large scale incidents affecting the campus such as category 2 - 5 hurricanes and acts of terrorism.

CIS has recently trained 25 departments in COOP development and 28 departments in COOP Table-Top Exercises involving acts of terrorism and natural disasters in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and 8 departments in both COOP development as well as Table-Top and Functional/Full Scale Exercises involving terrorist attacks on a major special event and emergency services facilities in Alachua County, Florida.

Critical Incident Solutions was contracted by Miami-Dade County to develop Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) training curriculum, deliver multiple COOP training courses to planning coordinators within 25 different departments which did not have a current plan, and review initial draft plans to include making recommendations for COOP improvement.

CIS was also contracted to evaluate the plans of 28 other departments within the county which already had plans in place through a series of 5 Table Top Exercises that addressed vital areas of contingency planning to include communications, evacuation procedures, personnel accountability, water and food supply, transportation, fuel supply, electrical power generation, information technology and data recovery, housing and childcare, security control and hazard mitigation, emergency police/fire/medical services, banking and financial services, and government resources.

COOP course development was conducted by CIS staff members who are certified, experienced and well versed on contingency planning. CIS staff members utilized federal guidelines (Federal Preparedness Circular (FPC)-65), state guidelines [(COOP Elements of Viability (FDEM)], and industry best-practices to formulate the training curriculum to meet the specific needs of Miami-Dade County. Core concepts which form a viable COOP and were discussed in detail during the training courses included:

Plans & Procedures
Mission Essential Functions
Delegation of Authority
Orders of Succession
Alternate Facilities
Interoperable Communications
Vital Records, Files, and Databases
Human Capital
Security
Devolution
Reconstitution
Testing, Training, and Exercising
Program Management

Course development also included the creation of a multi-media presentation in order to reinforce teaching points. An interactive game was also developed and utilized to engage participants and promote a high level of interest in course materials. This teaching method was well received and provided an enjoyable learning environment for everyone in attendance. After attending the training sessions, participating agency representatives drafted a COOP for their respective departments. CIS staff reviewed these draft plans and provided written recommendations for plan improvement based on federal and state guidelines as well as industry best practices. Final plans were then submitted by 25 departments to Miami-Dade County in order to comply with state requirements that all essential agencies maintain a viable COOP.

CIS staff also developed training materials for a series of 5 Table Top Exercises to evaluate the plans of 28 other departments within the county which already had a COOP in place. CIS staff worked with department representatives to develop exercise objectives and customized scenarios that would challenge participants while they responded to a catastrophic event to maintain essential functions within their departments despite disruptions, damage and major impact upon key facilities, operations and personnel. CIS produced written exercise manuals and created multi-media presentations in order to deliver realistic training situations for participants at each Table Top Exercise. CIS staff provided a written After Action Report for each Table Top Exercise which included key lessons learned and recommendations on how each agency could improve their Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP).

Critical Incident Solutions designed, scripted, and conducted a large Table-Top Exercise for 8 major agencies/organizations in Alachua County including the University of Florida, which involved multiple acts of terrorism across the nation affecting multiple universities. Our company also conducted a functional exercise for all major emergency response agencies/organizations including the University of Florida. The scenario involved terrorists detonating a large vehicle bomb (LVB) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida during a Gators Football Game. The blast took out the Stadium Command Post and Command Staff including University of Florida Police Officials as well as several thousand spectators. The Alachua County Sheriff's Mobile Command Vehicle was also destroyed.

Additionally, terrorists detonated explosive devices at the Alachua County Combined Communications Center which houses 911 Dispatch and Emergency Management Agency's EOC (Emergency Operations Center). Explosive devices were also detonated at the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, Gainesville Police Department, Alachua County Fire Rescue and Gainesville Fire Rescue. Terrorists also targeted critical infrastructure by taking out key electrical sub-stations, cell towers and other communications facilities causing widespread power and communication outages.

These events required that the Incident Command Post be relocated from the stadium to the University of Florida Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in order to manage the crisis response in the field. Alachua County emergency services departments had to activate their Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) in order to continue their essential functions and provide emergency services for victims of the attacks. Key personnel from each department, not killed by the bombings, during the exercise actually relocated to alternate facilities and established incident command and department administrative and operational activities using the only means of communication available at the time, namely department radios and web-based communications. Only those facilities capable of providing back up power were available to coordinate emergency response to each bombing location.

Significant after action items were identified as a result of conducting this exercise. These items were captured and reported to Alachua County Officials as part of the After Action Report written by Critical Incident Solution's staff. Alachua County and the University of Florida benefited greatly from this exercise and is currently at a much higher level of preparedness for dealing with terrorist attacks due to county-wide participation in this exercise.