This paper describes implementation of a local government continuity of operations plan and pandemic influenza appendix through the first plan–train–exercise cycle. The potential for pandemic influenza was addressed by the Bernalillo County Public Works Division, New Mexico, as part of an all-hazards approach in continuity of operations planning. The continuity of operations planning process typically emphasizes loss of use of facilities. A pandemic scenario based on the 1918 influenza is used to determine whether adequate staff will be available to ensure that essential functions are performed. Staff reduction during an emergency requires difficult choices among what is “essential.” It also requires redefinition of each member of the staff as currently or potentially providing an essential function. The paper describes how all personnel are involved in the continuity of operations plan. “All personnel” in this agency involves more than 200 employees with diverse job descriptions and skills. All personnel include political appointees, janitorial staff, civil engineers, field technicians, and clerical staff. Each person is considered an essential employee. Respect for each individual as an essential employee was demonstrated by enabling and involving each employee. Human factors addressed during the process included communication to ensure that all staff were informed, education to ensure that all staff could be trained, and organization to ensure that all staff were part of a team. The result of the approach is a near-term capability to maintain essential functions during a pandemic influenza. The effort also supports long-term, all-hazards local government capacity to maintain essential functions.
Operation Fireplace was successfully conducted. During postexercise discussions, external evaluators commended the exercise as providing a resilience benchmark for local government COOP plans. The purpose of this paper is to document the process and the results of the exercise to benefit agencies at all levels of government. To achieve this purpose, this paper describes the background of the local government initiative, exercise preparation, Operation Fireplace, exercise evaluation, and next steps. BACKGROUND Public Works Division Bernalillo County comprises both urban and rural communities in central New Mexico. The city of Albuquerque is located within Bernalillo County. The Bernalillo County Government is responsible for providing services to the unincorporated area of the county. BCPWD consists of 250 employees. In the National Response Plan, at the level of local government, public works agencies are responsible for the transportation critical infrastructure. BCPWD is responsible for highways and bridges. Additional countywide services that BCPWD provides include fleet fueling and maintenance, facilities maintenance, solid-waste management, water resources, and geographic information system (GIS) support. To provide these and other services, BCPWD is led by the deputy county manager for public works and is organized into five departments. Continuity of Operations The deputy county manager for public works made the decision that the COOP design template would be the joint TCRP and NCHRP transportation security document Continuity of Operations Planning Guidelines for Transportation Agencies (1). The deputy county manager, the department directors, and advisory personnel appointed by the deputy county manager formed the COOP executive team. Literature Search After selection of the COOP design template, a literature search was conducted to provide additional insight into the COOP process and to learn from the experiences of other agencies. In addition to the documents supporting the TCRP and NCHRP COOP plan development
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