A Coordinated Emergency Response: Creating and Using Your Small Community Emergency Response Plan
Alaska’s increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, particularly during the fall storm season, create ongoing life-safety, infrastructure, and food security risks for small and rural communities. While communities often know who to call for routine or isolated emergencies, community-wide and large-scale events require a coordinated response involving Tribal leadership, local responders, regional organizations, and State and Federal partners.
A Small Community Emergency Response Plan (SCERP) provides a practical framework for organizing that response before an emergency occurs. Developing and regularly reviewing a SCERP helps communities identify key roles and responsibilities, maintain critical contact information, document local resources and capabilities, and establish procedures for coordinating response activities when they are needed most.
This session will provide an overview of the SCERP, walk participants through the planning and development process, and share examples of how Alaska Tribes have used SCERPs to strengthen community preparedness and response.
Speakers:
James Benzschawel, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Emergency Preparedness Program Manager
David Lee, SCERP Coordinator at Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management