The recent disruption caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic that affected every business across the United States served to amplify the importance of having an Emergency Management and Public Health Preparedness Plan (EMPHPP). For some, Emergency Preparedness may sound like overkill. But, even a very basic EMPHPP can provide a business owner or manager with a number of benefits when an emergency occurs. A robust and proactive EMPHPP is beneficial in creating a culture of health and safety in the workplace that will mitigate risk and demonstrate responsible management.
Over the past 20 years, the United States has been challenged by several natural and man-made events including the September 11 terrorist attacks, anthrax attacks, catastrophic hurricanes in the Gulf and East Coasts, flooding in the Midwest, H1N1 influenza pandemic, tornadoes and floods, Hurricane Sandy and most-recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brydges Engineering in Environment and Energy (BE3 Corp) has significant experience and expertise developing EMPHPP across a wide spectrum of industrial, commercial and community health scenarios. BE3 can provide specific services to assist organizations with protocols and processes that enable continued operations for the business, eliminating unnecessary costs, and lost revenue. BE3’s expertise includes a multidisciplinary team of professionals with comprehensive training and experience in public health and emergency planning and preparedness.
BE3 Emergency Management and Public Health Preparedness Plan Team
Jason Brydges is a licensed professional environmental engineer that has 25 years of experience in government and private sectors in various disciplines including hazardous and radioactive waste management, health physics applications, radiation and contamination controls, waste containment and biological treatment, stormwater design and wetland management, asbestos design and federal emergency management operations.
Peter Gorton has completed numerous courses in epidemiology, infectious and communicable diseases, water and wastewater quality and food safety. He has over 40 years of providing both emergency response, health and safety monitoring, planning and preparedness consulting to government agencies and the private sector across a broad spectrum of environmental and public health safety applications.
Dr. Ralph Estep is a Certified Industrial hygienist with a PhD in Safety Science, an MS in occupational health and safety and a BS in chemistry. He has over 25 years providing service nationally to clients in the healthcare, manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. Dr. Estep develops and implements various public and occupational safety and health programs including: hazard communication, respiratory protection, biosafety, fire protection, OSHA record keeping and emergency management. Dr. Estep is Principal, Health Systems Safety, Inc, and a long time consultant to BE3. He has been responsible for Emergency Management Safety implementation of Ebola Risk Assessments for healthcare workers, developed Ebola TTT course for donning and doffing PPE for healthcare workers, was a member of the COVID-19 Emergency Management and Safety Incident Command team for operationalizing the first NY State COVID -19 Treatment Center and completed biological risk assessments specializing in legionella sampling and hazard control methods.
Dr. Gary Robinson is a consultant to BE3 and has over 40 years of diverse professional experience, including in-depth experience in emergency and disaster management, environmental and construction management and hazardous management, preparedness and response. Dr. Robinson has firsthand experience with grant applications and government contracting requirements in emergency response and preparedness, as well as training and public meeting presentations. He is currently working on community response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BE3 Emergency Management and Public Health Preparedness Plan Process
BE3 understands business, organizations and municipalities are different and have different needs related to emergency preparedness. BE3 EMPHPP services are designed to assist companies and agencies to adequately prepare to meet the needs of your employees, management staff, residents and clients during any emergency situation. The EMPHPP will allow for the required coordination with federal, state, tribal, regional and local emergency preparedness systems and will be consistent with emergency preparedness, response and countermeasure requirements. Within each plan, the defined response to natural and man-made disasters or public health emergencies, each approach will be catered to the needs of the client and will include standard procedures and policies that will fit with all federal, state and local responses.
BE3 also reviews and prepares public health and emergency preparedness plans and procedures for large, medium and small municipalities, government agencies and public entities. Some entities possess detailed and comprehensive emergency preparedness plans and procedures; while others have little or no planning, training and operational readiness. Oftentimes support services within these organizations are insufficient, inconsistent and inadequate to address the complexities of real-time emergencies that can affect the organization.
BE3 includes five basic deliverables in the design of the Emergency Management and Public Health Preparedness Plan they create for clients. One of the first steps is a frontend assessment and investigation of any existing EPP plans. The resulting EMPHPP will include Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all employees and all levels, a Field Manual, and an Engineering Report that guides the health and safety position of the organization.
1. Plans, Policies and Procedures
Development and implementation of key policies and procedures that support the successful execution of the emergency plan and risks identified during the risk assessment process. Specific plans include Continuity of Operations Plans (COOPs) and Corporate or Community Emergency Management Plans (CEMPs). A COOP plan is designed to ensure that essential functions continue to be performed during a wide range of disaster emergencies or public health crises. The goal of the plan is to ensure the continuation of essential functions. The objective of the planning is to identify the essential functions of the specific organization and ensure those functions can be continued throughout, or resumed rapidly after a disruption of normal activities. CEMPs work together with COOPs and specify the purpose, organizations, responsibilities and facilities of local, state or federal municipal agencies and official of the political subdivision in the mitigation of, preparation for, response to and recovery from emergencies and disasters.
2. Training and Testing
Development and maintenance of an organization-specific emergency preparedness and public health training and testing program, including initial and ongoing training in emergencies and organizational-specific preparedness. Training is provided for all personal levels within an organization in public health awareness, disaster and emergency management and in individual COOP and CEMP plans. Training is specific and comprehensive.
3. Response Activities
The plans that are created identify key response functions and personnel needed for response actions and this can be developed in consultation with management. BE3 will function as an emergency responder for specific aspects of a client emergency, if appropriate.
4. Risk Assessment and Emergency Planning
Completion of a risk assessment that uses an “all-hazards” approach prior to establishing an emergency plan. The all-hazards risk assessment will be used to identify the essential components to be integrated into the facility emergency plan. An all-hazards approach is an integrated approach to emergency preparedness planning that focuses on capacities and capabilities that are critical to preparedness for a full spectrum of emergencies or disasters. This will be specific to the organization and considers the types of hazards most likely to occur in their entity. This may include health care emergencies, equipment and power failures and interruptions in communications.
5. Communication Planning
Development and maintenance of an emergency preparedness plan must be put together for your organization. The plan must be well-coordinated within the organization and state and local public health departments and emergency management agencies and systems to protect health and safety.
Each organization and situation is unique, but the BE3 EMPHPP process has been used successfully for organizations of various sizes. For specific questions or to discuss the design of a EMPHPP for your organization, contact BE3 at https://be3corp.com/#contactus
To download our Statement of Qualifications for Emergency Management Click Here