2010 CEOP Mid-year Planning Team Meeting

The 2010 CEOP Planning Team met on July 13, 2010 to gain a status update of the activities completed and in progress with the planning process. The team discussed improvements that have been made, and global issues needing resolution. Information was also provided regarding the FEMA Technical Assistance efforts for Special Needs, and Pets and Service Animals. The meeting ended with next steps being identified for completion of the 2010 CEOP as well as additional future work in areas such as identifying and documenting EOC tasks per ESF, creation of Memorandums of Understanding with partners and suppliers, and creating training and exercise plans in relation to the CEOP.

ESF-8 Public Health and Medical Services Annex Update

On 6/9/10, the ESF-8 Coordinating Agency team met to discuss the requirements and approach for ESF-8 Public Health and Medical Services. This annex has additional complexity due to the fact that multiple county agencies have key roles. These Coordinating Agencies are Johnson County Public Health, Johnson County Med-Act, Johnson County Mental Health, and the county coroner.

The team will be meeting with a representative from the Mid-America Regional Council to review the regional work in the areas of Hospital Coordination, Mass Surge, and Mass Fatality. They will then determine next steps in the areas of Public Health, Mental Health, Emegrency Services, and Mass Fatality at the county level.

Special Needs Planning for 2010 CEOP

Johnson County has been awarded a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Technical Assistance Grant for special needs planning. Through this grant, DHS/FEMA has hired an outside consulting firm with expertise in special needs planning, IEM, to provide recommendations and planning guidance to Johnson County on how to address special needs issues in disaster planning.

While special needs issues are currently addressed in various disaster planning/preparedness initiatives, many of us have acknowledged that additional work is needed to formalize a more comprehensive approach. Special Needs considerations take into account economically disadvantaged, limited language proficient, disabilities (physical, mental, cognitive, or sensory), age vulnerable (under 5 or 65), & culturally/geographically isolated.

In the next few weeks, there will be community partners, county representatives, and other stakeholders joining in workgroup sessions to define the concepts, policies, and procedures to meet the 2010 CEOP planning needs.

Household Pets and Service Animals Planning

Johnson County has been awarded a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) / Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Technical Assistance Grant for planning for Household Pets and Service Animals. DHS/FEMA has hired an outside consulting firm with expertise in animal planning, IEM, to provide recommendations and planning guidance to Johnson County on how to address household pets and service animal issues in disaster planning.

While household pet and service animal issues are currently addressed in various disaster planning/preparedness initiatives, many of us have acknowledged that additional work is needed to formalize a more comprehensive approach.

In the next few weeks, there will be community partners, county representatives, and other stakeholders joining in workgroup sessions to define the concepts, policies, and procedures to meet the 2010 CEOP planning needs.

ESF-6 Plan Status Update

After the June 30 review, ESF-6 has two open items to complete for annex finalization. A small work group will be meeting to discuss shelter health screening for contamination, infection, and other health areas. Secondly, "special needs" workshops will be defining additional information to add to ESF-6 as well.