The Scott Consulting Firm, LLC

       EXPERTISE AVAILABLE IN:
       Survey Research
       Strategic Planning
       Healthcare Education and Training
       Emergency Management – Operations
       Emergency Management – Funding Streams
       Emergency Management – Communications

Comprehensive Communications Planning

A comprehensive communications plan is important for any organization. For Emergency Management, it’s critical. Though each plan is different based on the county’s needs, the items below are considered, by us, to be mission critical.

Automated Delivery of Public Messaging

We are firm believers in technology and utilizing it to its fullest capability especially when it can free EOC staff from fielding or making phone calls in the middle of a crisis.

We can help you review a range of solutions from onsite turnkey products to fully hosted messaging capabilities accessible via phone or the Web. Once we have the solution in place, our consultants will assist you with message design and best delivery options.

A fully developed agency library would contain scripting and pre-recorded messaging for all possible hazard scenarios as well as capabilities to record/create and deploy “on the fly” for situations that warrant immediate or updated information that could not possibly be pre-recorded (e.g., hurricane position, chemical spill location, response to terrorism act, etc). If you incorporate a Readiness Assessment into your Communication Plan, you could also include targeted messaging in your library based on Assessment Responses and be able to proactively initiate action in a crisis.

Examples of a Message Library for Hurricane Response could include:

Evacuation Planning – before an event
- Shelter Locations
- Special Needs
- What to take with you
Hurricane preparedness reminders throughout year
Hurricane strength and tracking, expected landfall and location – before an event @ given intervals
Evacuation Commands – voluntary, mandatory (blanket message) – before and during an event
Evacuation Commands by Zone (1 message for each Zone)
Evacuation Zones and Routes (blanket message)
Evacuation Routes by Zone (1 message for each Zone)
Disaster assistance – before, during and after an event
Location of Water, Ice and Food
- Contact info for:
  - Red Cross
  - County EMA
  - State EMA
  - FEMA
  - Salvation Army
  - Others
Targeted Messaging based on survey responses
- Location of transportation (to those with that need)
- Encouragement to leave (to those who said they don’t want to)
- Special Needs Assistance ETA (to those whom that effects)
- Place to drop off pets or take with is ok (to those who indicated this was a barrier to leaving)
Others

We have multiple products and vendors to introduce you to and no allegiance to any of them. We will work with you and your IT professionals to find the solution that works best for your agency.

Updated Contact Database

We can also help you amass a contact database for your county and show you ways to keep it updated so your telephone and mail correspondence with residents is reaching them. Through the Readiness Assessment, we can also collect email, cell phone, fax and PDA contact information for each of your residents. Having secondary contact information in a crisis would be a luxury most agencies simply don’t have and yet, collecting this data is not cost prohibitive.

Web Design or Re-design

We understand that Emergency Management Agencies are extremely busy places and that a county web presence is not always a top priority. It is our position, however, that a website that is fully integrated with your EMA responsibilities is the best first line access to the public and an easy way to alleviate demand on your command center and EMA personnel.

We can provide the content and structure for your website and our partner, iPlenus Solutions, will bring it to life with custom design and development. All of the critical information that you want to share with the public before, during and after a crisis can occur as they “click” their way through your website.

We will also help you design the Press Releases and other mass media communications so you can make the public aware of your web address and the site’s powerful information delivery capabilities. Your website can truly be another EMA staff member – just look at everything you can bring to the public’s attention without receiving one phone call:

Evacuation Routes
Special Needs Coordination info
Transportation Inquiries
Shelter Locations
Pet care page and resources for traveling with (e.g. hotels who accept pets on the evacuation routes) or leaving behind (kennels available on the evacuation route)
Education about all hazards
Links to FEMA, NOAA, Homeland Security and others
Information downloads of all your agency brochures
Speaker request form
Contact request form
Family Disaster Plan Template
Apartment Complex Disaster Plan Template
Business Disaster Plan Template
School Disaster Plan Template
A teacher’s page for an educator’s response to disasters
A children’s page (with or without) interactive games that teaches them about preparation and even about the aftermath of an event
Consumer information re: insurance policies and what is/is not covered
Forms for all agencies for post disaster rebuilding
Contact information for federal, state and local government, insurance agencies, social service and others
Homeland Security and Terrorism updates
Current hazard research

As you can see, your website can be a powerful information tool and can significantly reduce the amount of time your staff spends answering questions, mailing out information or providing guidance for hazard preparation and response.

Call us today to schedule a complimentary consulting conversation. We have a portfolio online for you to review and we have EMA references upon request. We can make a difference for your organization and the citizens in your county.

Readiness Assessments (Baseline and Follow Up)

Our staff has worked diligently to prepare county assessment surveys that can obtain the information you need BEFORE a disaster strikes, particularly a large Hurricane. Katrina taught all of us the need for preparation and planning in advance of an event and response to special situations in time to save lives. Unfortunately, a county is often held hostage by a lack of information rendering them unable to respond appropriately. In the absence of real-time information, manpower is wasted and safety compromised. It’s not a lack of concern or diligence but simply a lack of information.

We can show you how to contact each and every household in your county, assess the occupant’s ability and willingness to leave as well as identify obstacles to evacuation, special healthcare needs, language preferences for oral and written communications and household contact information… all prior to an event. Armed with this information, county EMA personnel can provide targeted response before, during and after a crisis.

We use multi-modal methodologies in order to contact residents the way they prefer and in order to save valuable county resources. We can also help you capitalize on a wealth of information already available in your community but not readily thought of as a county resource.

Disaster Plan Templates

Every family, apartment complex, school and business needs to have a comprehensive disaster plan in place in order to save lives and limit property loss.

Families need a plan to communicate before, during and after a crisis – even the Red Cross advocates every family having a well-prepared and discussed disaster plan. Apartment complexes need to have more planning in place than simply advising residents to remove potential debris from patios and balconies. Schools need to have a complete plan and training in place for maximum protection of students and Businesses have to have a plan in order to protect valuable resources and get back up and running as soon as possible after an event.

National statistics tell us that only 42% of businesses in the US have a disaster plan in place; only 1 in 4 businesses have a flu pandemic plan in place; and more than 40% of small businesses never reopen after a disaster (Source: Harris Interactive 2006; FloridaDisaster.org website). Your area simply cannot afford that kind of loss. Disaster planning is a MUST!

Our custom disaster templates coordinate communications, evacuation, post-disaster reuniting, security of resources, protection of valuables and return to work planning.

Satisfaction Surveys

Perception is reality – what is your citizen’s reality of you?

As a government agency, it is vitally important to stay linked and responsive to the community. In the absence of information about your performance, it is difficult to make adjustments that the public would appreciate or expect.

We have tested survey instruments that can measure your public perception as well as action plans designed to enhance existing programs or create new ones in response to citizen feedback. Call us today to discuss survey design, methodology options and action plans for your county!

Volunteers

Whether it’s a CERT team, coordination with the Red Cross or just a local church or civic organization lending a hand, volunteers are an invaluable resource to the local Emergency Management Agency. When a large scale disaster strikes, it’s often the volunteers leading the recovery charge so the EMA and local government can focus on the pressing infrastructure and mass care issues.

Volunteers are a wonderful resource but they have to identified, screened, and trained to perform. Our consultants can help you build and train a solid and reliable volunteer corps in your area fully able to be an extension of the EMA in a disaster.