Emergency Planning: Roles, Stages, and Distinctions

EMERGENCY PLANNING. 1
Emergency Planning
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EMERGENCY PLANNING. 2
Introduction
Before looking deep into the roles of an emergency planner, stages of preparedness cycle,
roles of an emergency planner in ensuring that the stages are going according to plan, it is key to
first understand what emergency planning means. Alexander (2015) stated that emergency
planning involves assessment of risks, creation of plans for the identified risks and finally
implementing risk mitigation measures to prepare the society for unforeseen hazard or incident.
The individual who is responsible for the planning of emergency is called and emergency
planner.
Roles of emergency planner
An emergency planner has the following core roles: first and foremost the emergency
planner is in charge of resource management i.e. before the incident occurring, during the
occurrence of emergency and after the hazard has occurred. This is done and achieved through
carrying out inventory of both personnel and available resources which includes both private and
public resources for mitigating an emergency when it occurs. Also this role involves identifying
any resource deficiency and coordinating with other stakeholders on measures to solve any
deficiency that may be experienced. It is suggested that in addition to the deficiency
identification, the planner is responsible for creating public awareness and ensuring that
education programs are carried out to help the public understand what is supposed to be done
when an emergency occurs (Jerolleman & Kiefer, 2015).
The second role of an emergency planner is carrying out activities that relate to the core
parts of emergency management. The planner achieves this by taking charge of the planning
process and working harmoniously with firms and government agencies to ensure that all that

EMERGENCY PLANNING. 3
has been planned goes according to the plan. Also, identification and analysis of potential effects
of risks that threaten the jurisdiction fall under this role. In addition to this, the emergency
planner conducts threats and ensure that risks are well assessed. The emergency planner ensures
that all emergency related authorities’ reviews are well coordinated to ensure the success of this
role.
The third role of an emergency planner is coordinating with all stakeholders in the
process of the emergency management process. This is done to ensure that they are well all
informed about potential threats that may affect the society, making sure that a good system is
put in place to alert both officials and the general public when an emergency occurs, preventing
and mitigating emergencies when they occur. The planner also uses all-hazards approach in
planning for emergencies which include establishment and maintenance of professional advisors
and also damage assessors. Coordination with stakeholders is key to ensure that all stakeholders
effectively operate when an emergency situation occurs and to ensure that all partners involved
conduct recovery operations after the occurrence of a disaster (Lock et al., 2018). Other roles of
emergency planner include: acting as a communication link between organization headquarters
and the facility that has been affected, ensuring that all necessary equipment are available on the
site by making orders and arranging the delivery of the equipment from contractors, ensuring
that the affected community is informed adequately about the incident and the required
responses.
Stages of preparedness cycle
This cycle comprises of five major stages. These stages are planning,
organizing/equipping, training, exercising and lastly evaluating and improving. Planning