January – March 2019, Vol. 1
State Emergency Operation Plan
HSEM announced the SEOP update during the February ESF meeting at the SEOC.
HSEM has begun the important task of updating the State Emergency Operation Plan (SEOP). The process will include updating all relevant information and practices. Three new Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) are being added as part of the update – military support, business and industry and cyber. Additionally, the State Emergency Operation Center(SEOC) will now have four states of readiness – steady state, enhanced monitoring, partial activation and full activation.
HSEM will be welcoming feedback and input from all of the Emergency Support Functions, support agencies and other partners during the update process. Final revisions to the SEOP are scheduled to be completed by the end of the fiscal year. Following completion of this undertaking, HSEM will schedule a series of workshops and informational sessions for the situational awareness of all of our state and local partners.
HSEM’s New Community Outreach Coordinator
Beginning in February, Homeland Security and Emergency management will be placing a renewed emphasis on our emergency preparedness mission through the new Community Outreach Coordinator position. Paul Raymond, Jr. a full and part-time member of the HSEM staff since April 2014, has taken the reigns of the newly-reorganized office. “I am excited to work with residents, emergency management specialists, organizational and community leaders, and government officials to collectively strengthen everyone’s capacity in emergency preparedness,” Raymond said.
“Paul’s experience with coordinating the fire academy instructor programs and his years of experience in EMS and emergency management fits the charge of the community outreach program well,” Director Perry Plummer said. “The community outreach office will build on the work we’ve already made toward our whole community approach to emergency preparedness in New Hampshire.”
The office offers a variety of resources to help your community focus on the importance of emergency preparedness. Members of the office’s staff are available to give presentations to community groups, to be on hand for conferences, to assist in the creation of community-specific materials or to arrange a visit from HSEM mascot Ready the Prepared Puppy. The office will also continue to be available to assist with media interactions and the dissemination of public information.
Materials to hand out in your community can be found at ReadyNH.gov or by contacting the Community Outreach Office. For more information about HSEM Community Outreach contact Paul Raymond, Jr. and the community outreach team at hsempio@dos.nh.gov or 603-271-2231.
Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program
In January, HSEM facilitated a two-day Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP) course at the N.H. Fire Academy in Concord. HSEEP is designed to guide participants in how to execute an emergency preparedness exercise from setting up the initial exercise schedule to evaluations after. The class is discussion based, allowing participants to discuss previous exercises and evaluate what worked and how to improve areas of weakness. Instruction on using the Target Capabilities List (TCL) and the HSEEP Toolkit was included in the course. “The Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) provides a set of guiding principles for exercise programs, as well as a common approach to exercise program management, design and development, conduct, evaluation, and improvement planning. HSEEP exercise and evaluation doctrine is flexible, adaptable, and is for use by stakeholders across the whole community and is applicable for exercises across all mission areas – prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.” For more information about HSEEP, please contact State Training Officer Joann Beaudoin at Joann.Beaudoin@dos.nh.gov.
House of Worship Table-Top Exercise
HSEM sponsored a table-top exercise for houses of worship in Nashua on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. The exercise used three different scenarios, ranging from a medical emergency to the handling of suspicious package to an active threat, to prompt discussions of how religious organizations would respond in emergency situations. There were approximately 20 organizations represented from area houses of worship, including representatives from the Christian, Hindu and Jewish faiths. First responders from Nashua Police, Fire and EMS services were also represented and participated in the discussions. HSEM Operation Chief Bob Christensen, Jason Climer from the Department of Homeland Security , and Joe Cafarelli from the US Attorney’s Office facilitated the discussions. For more information about exercises for Houses of Worship, please contact Bob Christensen at robert.christensen@dos.nh.gov or 223-3636.
Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) Exercise
On January 24th, HSEM held a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) exercise at the National Guard Headquarters in Concord. This exercise for ESFs focused on “jumping” from the Incident Planning and Operations Center (IPOC) to the National Guard Headquarters in an emergency situation (i.e. where the IPOC facility was untenable). The purpose of the exercise was to practice primary ESF agencies’ responses to an emergency situation from an alternate facility. Participants worked through a number of communications-related tasks focusing on insuring capabilities via wireless and internet-based communication. Use of ICS paper forms, communications and activity logs was stressed. This exercise was the second of its kind. A third functional exercise will be scheduled within the next year to incorporate lessons learned, practice procedures and update documentation.
Mount Washington Table-Top Exercise
On January 9th, NH HSEM facilitated an exercise in Gorham to work through the logistics of an emergency response to the top of Mount Washington. Fifty stakeholders participated, including representatives from NH State Police, NH Fish and Game, NH State Fire Marshal’s Office, NH Parks and Recreation, NH Forest and Lands, the US Forest Service, Gorham Fire and EMS, Jackson Fire and Police, and members of the Mount Washington Observatory and Auto road staffs. The group discussed responding to an emergent situation in the unique and challenging environment that is the Mount Washington Summit.
