Collaboration

• Face-to-face meetings to establish personal connections

• Regular conversations/meeting

• Partnerships, MOUs

• Regional exercises involving all stakeholders

• States should play a supportive role

  • Provide education, facilitate planning, establish communications

  • Mobilize and deploy resources and coordinate outside help

Resources

• Expand recruitment into demographics with the required skill sets that may not have been previously considered (e.g., doctors and nurses may volunteer during their off hours).

• Identify resources in the community (people, equipment, vehicles, communications systems).

• Survey people for certifications/education/experience they may have beyond their primary jobs.

• Assign staff whose jobs are nonessential in a disaster to other supportive roles.

• Explore integrating trauma surgeons into the larger system (e.g., a pre-registered, pre-credentialed, rapidly mobilized force of surgeons bringing surgery to the scene).

• Seek federal, state, and private grant opportunities to fund equipment purchases and education:

  • Assistance to Firefighters Grants program

    • Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant

  • Rural Fire Assistance Program

  • State EMS grants

  • Insurance company grants (Fireman’s Fund, Allstate Foundation, etc.)

Planning and Exercises

• Plan and implement as many drills and exercises as possible.

• Integrate the public in preparedness exercises that are interesting and fun.

• Include special needs populations in planning and exercises.

• A leadership succession plan should be part of incident management planning.

• Explore and establish backup communications strategies ahead of time.

Education

• Community education prior to an event can save lives

• Include interested high school students