Providers must develop and maintain an emergency/disaster response plan for each service location/site,

Providers must develop and maintain an emergency/disaster response plan for each service location/site, approved by the governing body, for responding to natural disasters, manmade disasters (fires, bomb threats, utility failures and other threatening situations, such as workplace violence). The plan should identify which events are most likely to affect the location/site. For example, the location/site is located near an airport, railroad, nuclear power plant, typical path of tornado, earthquake zone, coastal region, etc. This plan must address at a minimum: - You must have a plan for each service location/site. Each plan may have many of the same elements as other sites, but each site is a little bit different and the plan should reflect those differences. - This plan must be approved by your governing authority; you must have documentation of this in meeting minutes. - Each program should have as a part of the plan a response for each type of identified threat  Natural events such as tornado, hurricane, wild fire, etc.  Man-made events such as bomb threats, work place violence, etc. To accurately assess the hazards that each location/site might be vulnerable to, it is suggested that you complete a Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) or contact the county to obtain county level HVA info. Please see attachment A for more information on how to conduct a HVA. 1. Lines of authority and Incident Command Identify who will be in charge for the whole agency and for each location/site in the event of an emergency/disaster. An organizational chart would be helpful here in the event that the identified person is not available. 2. Identification of a Disaster Coordinator Please designate one person that will act as your Disaster Coordinator. This individual will be in charge of making sure the plan is accurate and up to date, drills are conducted appropriately, and that the agency and each location are prepared to respond. 3. Notification and plan activation This section must contain what triggers activation of the plan, who officially activates the plan, and once the plan has been activated how staff and individuals who receive services are notified of the event. Part of this section should be notification to DMH, and local emergency personnel that need to be notified based on the nature of the event (Fire, Police, DEQ, Emergency Management, etc.). 4. Coordination of planning and response activities with local and state emergency management authorities Your agency and programs must coordinate with the local emergency response agencies. Typically, these are the local Fire Department, local Police Department, and local Emergency Management Agency. There may be other response agencies, such as non-profit agencies or other state/local agencies, which you may benefit from coordinating with as well. Each of these agencies may benefit from having a copy of your emergency/disaster response plan for review, comment and reference. DMH Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan Development guidance 5. Assurances that staff will be available to respond during an emergency/disaster You must have sufficient staff to continue the essential functions of the agency. You should identify how you will ensure that the needed staff is available to handle those responsibilities. This section should also address how your agency will ensure that staff is available to respond to community needs during an event. 6. Communication with individuals receiving services, staff, governing authorities, and accrediting and/or licensing entities Outline how you will notify individuals receiving services, staff, your governing authorities, and your accrediting and/or certifying entities that an event has occurred, your plan has been activated, and to what extent and for how long your services will be affected. 7. Accounting for all persons involved (staff and individuals receiving services) When the event occurs and directly affects your program, outline how you will make sure all of those present at the time of the event, both staff and individuals receiving services, are safe and accounted for. This could be done with attendance logs, lists of those staff that may be traveling, or other means of accounting for everyone. There must be a method to account for each individual. 8. Conditions for evacuation Outline conditions that would cause you to evacuate your facility. A fire would be an example, but there are others as well such as power failure, sewage and/or water failure, foreseen unsafe conditions (hurricane, etc.), gas leaks (must comply with EMA directives regarding evacuation for gas leaks) and others. You should address all of those here. 9. Procedures for evacuation Outline procedures for evacuation. Here you should identify the different types of evacuation as well. For example, the evacuation of your location for a fire is a different type of evacuation than leaving the location and area due to weather or chemical exposure. This section should also address the plan if the decision is made to shelter in place. 10. Conditions for agency closure Under what conditions would your agency close? Some reasons might include damage to the facility, prolonged utility outage, infrastructure failure, and others. 11. Procedures for agency closure If the conditions have been met for agency closure, what is the procedure? Who has the authority to order the agency closure? Who will be responsible for notification procedures? 12. Schedules of drills for the plan Drills are required to be held on a schedule to ensure that staff is prepared in the event of an actual emergency/disaster. This schedule is the minimum requirement; more drills should be conducted if they are deemed necessary. The minimum schedule of drills should be as follows: Quarterly fire drills for day programs Monthly fire drills for residential programs, conducted on a rotating schedule within the following time frames: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Quarterly disaster drills, rotating the nature of the event for the drill based on the emergency/disaster plan, for each facility and program. Annual drill of Continuity of Operations Plan for the agency. DMH Disaster Preparedness and Response Plan Development guidance Drills should be unannounced as much as possible to ensure they are as real as possible. 13. The location of all fire extinguishing equipment, carbon monoxide detectors (if gas or any other means of carbon monoxide emission is used in facility) and alarms/smoke detectors In your plan you should have a map that shows the location of these items or a written description of the location of these items. The physical presence of these items in these locations will be checked on site visit. 14. The identified or established method of annual fire equipment inspection All fire equipment must be inspected on a set schedule, usually annually and by a professional from either the Fire Department or the equipment company. The method of inspection and documentation of inspection must be outlined here. 15. Escape routes and procedures that are specific to location/site and the type of disaster(s) for which they apply. A copy of the escape routes must be in the emergency/disaster response plan for reference. These signs should be posted in visible locations, oriented to the location in the building, with a route for evacuation specific to that location. CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLAN REVIEW *Understand that this Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) is for the agency as a whole, not for specific sites/locations. Only 1 COOP is required for the agency. Each site should be provided a copy of the agency’s COOP.