« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
03 Principles of Effective Response and Recovery
Summary
This chapter outlines the eight guiding principles for emergency response, as follows:
- Continuity - Response to emergencies should be grounded in the existing functions of organisations and normal ways of working, though delivered at a greater tempo, on a larger scale and in testing circumstances.
- Preparedness - All organisations and individuals with a part to play in response to emergencies should be prepared and clear about roles and responsibilities.
- Subsidiarity - Control should take place at the lowest appropriate level. Local responders arrangements are the building blocks of response to any event.
- Direction - Clarity of purpose is delivered through a strategic aim and supporting objectives to prioritise and focus the response. Aim and objectives should be agreed and understood by all involved.
- Integration - Effective co-ordination should exist between and within organisations and tiers of response as well as timely access to appropriate guidance and support.
- Co-operation - Positive engagement based on mutual trust and understanding to deliver effective solutions to issues, as they arise, is critical for effective preparation and response.
- Communication - Good communication is critical to effective response. Reliable information must be passed correctly and without delay between those who need to know, including the public.
- Anticipation - Analysis of current and longer-term impacts is essential to the management of the direct and indirect consequences of emergencies.
Continuity
3.1 Effective response is built on everyday working practices. In an emergency, familiarity and simplicity are important. Simple plans offer the flexibility to adapt to changed and changing circumstances.
3.2 Wherever possible response arrangements should recognise established structures and ways of working. If changes are necessary in an emergency then they must be embedded through training and practice.
Preparedness
3.3 All individuals and organisations that might have to respond to an emergency should be prepared to do so and understand their role and responsibilities.
3.4 Plans maintained under the Civil Contingencies Act must contain provision for a programme of training and exercising of people required for their implementation.
3.5 The aim of preparedness should be to place individuals in a position where they carry out their normal functions at a time of emergency. Training should equip them to perform within the plans made for emergency response, whether generic or specific.
Subsidiarity
3.6 UK civil protection is founded on a " bottom-up" approach, in which control of operations is exercised at the lowest practical level. In all cases the arrangements and plans of local responders are the basic building blocks of response to an emergency. Indeed, the local level deals with most emergencies with little or no input from central government. This approach has been proven to be robust in Scotland.
3.7 In emergency the role of Scottish and UK levels of management is to support and reinforce the efforts of the local responders by provision of advice, resources and, where necessary, co-ordination of combined national response. Details of management structures and arrangements are contained in Chapter 4 of this Section of Preparing Scotland.
3.8 The principles of "lowest practical" level for control of response to emergency and "highest necessary" for co-ordination and support of local activity are mutually reinforcing.
Direction
3.9 When an emergency occurs those responsible for managing the response face an array of conflicting demands and pressures. Many agencies may be involved and each has a specific role and responsibilities. It is essential for managers to establish and maintain clear and unambiguous aims and objectives for the response.
3.10 An agreed aim will ensure coherent actions and consistent priorities for all responders and concentrate effort and resources on the task in hand.
3.11 In sudden impact emergencies responders will strive, as immediate objectives, to save and protect life, relieve suffering, protect property and the environment and contain the emergency. In most cases, however, a wider range of objectives will become apparent as the response develops. Those managing the response to an emergency should focus upon the consequences rather than the causes of the emergency.
3.12 The establishment of aims and objectives for a particular plan can be addressed in preparation and should be endorsed by strategic managers. When planning embraces the need for adaptability and flexibility it will be easier to modify the aims and objectives, as necessary, at a time of emergency.
Integration
3.13 For emergencies of any size, operational success depends upon the integration of effort and effective co-ordination.
3.14 Scottish experience has shown that very large numbers of organisations could be engaged during response and recovery from emergencies. Each responder may have its own objectives, role and responsibilities. A proportion of emergencies will affect large areas, some may have a national extent and a few could have international dimensions. Within the UK an emergency may encompass large parts of Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Co-ordination of activity in a multi-agency response is essential and to be effective is best delivered at the highest necessary level.
3.15 Emergencies present challenging problems for communication and co-ordination within and between organisations, across all tiers of response. Their resolution requires clearly defined structures within which the key agencies can:
- combine and act jointly in a unified response
- consult, agree and make joint decisions
- manage a multi-agency response
3.16 As part of preparation for response, emergency management structures and procedures should be agreed by the Strategic Co-ordinating Group and embedded in the arrangements made by all responders, supported by training and regularly tested in exercises. Consistency in the structures established by each SCG will facilitate closer working across boundaries and with central government. The discussions at the Strategic Co-ordinating Group Forum established by the Scottish Executive will assist in this regard.
Co-operation
3.17 The management of emergency response involves many people, with different roles and responsibilities, working in large multi-agency groups.
3.18 In such circumstances an open, inclusive and positive approach to the management of response that is focused on agreed aims is essential to a successful outcome. This is facilitated and encouraged by mutual trust and understanding. That trust and understanding will, in turn, be enhanced by close co-operation in preparation, training and exercising of the arrangements for co-ordination.
3.19 Co-operation will be improved if all partners are clear about roles, responsibilities and the management framework in which their activities take place. The Strategic Co-ordinating Groups have a key role in developing local arrangements and promoting wider awareness of the roles and responsibilities of their members.
Communication
3.20 Accurate and timely information is always at a premium in emergencies. The nature of emergencies and demands of emergency response place significant pressures on communication.
3.21 Establishing information management as an integral part of the multi-agency co-ordination arrangements is essential. Training and exercising of information processes is vitally important. They should address internal and external communications and critical links within the multi-agency management framework.
3.22 Processes should identify the gathering, processing and dissemination of information.
3.23 It is important that good record management is addressed by all agencies throughout a response. This will assist in administrative matters such as cost recovery and in the evidential requirements of public inquiries and investigations. Records may be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and other similar legislation.
3.24 Any emergency will result in public and media interest and concern. Large numbers of requests for information can overwhelm an organisation. Responders should have arrangements in place to ensure that the public is regularly informed of essential facts throughout the emergency, including action being taken and appropriate contact details.
Anticipation
3.25 Effective management of emergency response is measured by its appropriateness in the prevailing circumstances. In sudden impact emergencies the initial management is reactive to the circumstances. However, at all times during response managers at all levels must look forward, anticipate the course of events and adapt their strategies to meet future demands and challenges. In doing so managers will influence the outcome of the response and speed of recovery.
3.26 All emergencies have disparate direct and indirect impacts that may not be immediately apparent amidst the pressure of urgent response. Managers must take a longer-term view of response.
3.27 Managers should also seek to manage the consequences of emergencies by normal arrangements as quickly as possible for both effectiveness and to demonstrate the return to normality.
3.28 Arrangements based around an awareness of roles and responsibilities and the functions of responders should allow sufficient flexibility to adopt a functional response to meet anticipated needs.
« Previous | Contents | Next »