While the response to and recovery from a chemical incident is similar to the response to and recovery from a natural hazard incident, several critical aspects are different. Moreover, chemical incidents may be caused by a natural disaster. In this instance, the resulting scenario could present an incredibly demanding and complex response operating environment with challenges in the distribution of emergency response resources, and/or a major chemical release that cannot be immediately addressed due to adverse conditions. Building and maintaining public confidence in governmental decisions and direction is a major consideration, and the importance of honest, accurate, timely, and frequent communication to the public cannot be overstated.
Additional challenges posed by chemical incidents must also be factored into incident recovery. Recovery activities must balance risk-based remediation processes with concerns for economic recovery and revitalization. They may also require levels of trust, transparency, and stakeholder involvement well beyond those needed in traditional disaster recovery scenarios. Comprehensive pre-incident planning provides a community with its greatest potential for achieving response and recovery goals.
Natural Hazards Incidents Are More Familiar than Chemical Incidents
The planning and preparedness activities discussed in this “Prime the Pump” Key Planning Factor include taking steps to:
Engage with local chemical incident-specific planning committees to coordinate critical information gathering and plan and process development that are inclusive, transparent, accountable, and leverage available expert input.
Identify and understand the community’s specific chemical risks and gaps in its response capabilities.
Understand how time-sensitive decisions are made in chaotic, ambiguous situations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a chemical incident response.
Treat the community’s entire emergency response as a system of systems to help community decision-makers understand the interdependency of community relationships, resources, and components for a successful response.
Implement a “whole community” concept of operations in response planning that is coordinated with local elected leadership and chemical incident-specific planning committees, and includes community and partner messaging strategies.
Due to the short response timeline often involved in chemical incidents, preparedness begins and ends at the community level.