Draft Guidance: Response, Restoration, and Recovery Checklist for Biologically Contaminated Facilities
The Checklist for Facility Response, Restoration, and Recovery presented in this document is principally focused on the Consequence Management Phase of a biothreat agent (i.e., Bacillus anthracis) release at a large facility, such as an airport or subway. Information in this document conforms to the National Response Plan (NRP) (DHS 2004) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS 2004). Under these two guidance documents, the personnel responsible for managing biological response and recovery efforts--that is, the decision-makers--are members of an Incident Command (IC), which is likely to transition to a Unified Command (UC) in the event of a biological warfare agent attack. A UC is used when more than one agency has incident jurisdiction or when incidents cross political jurisdictions. The location for primary, tactical-level command and management is referred to as the Incident Command Post (ICP), as described in the NRP. Thus, regardless of whether an IC or an UC is used, the responsible entities are located at an ICP. Agencies work together through designated members of the UC to establish their designated Incident Commanders at a single ICP and to establish a common set of objectives and strategies and a single Incident Action Plan. Initially during the Crisis Management Phase, the Incident Commander is likely to be the Chief of the fire department that serves the affected facility. As life-safety issues are resolved and the Crisis Management Phase shifts to the Consequence Management Phase, the work of characterization, decontamination, and facility clearance begins. There will likely be a coincident transition in organizational structure as well, and new restoration-focused groups, units, and personnel will be added as restoration needs are anticipated. Depending on the specific facility and type of incident, the responsible individual (Incident Commander or Unified Commander) within the UC during the Consequence Management Phase could be the Facility Manager, the Facility Emergency Operations Manager, or their designee. In an incident involving large-scale biological contamination, the Governor of the state would typically request, and the President of the United States would likely declare, an emergency under the Stafford Act (1974; amended 2002). The Secretary of Homeland Security would likely determine that the event is an Incident of National Significance on the basis of criteria established in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5), ''Management of Domestic Incidents''. Incidents of National Significance are those high-impact events that require a coordinated and effective response by an appropriate combination of Federal, state, local, tribal, private-sector, and nongovernmental entities to save lives, minimize damage, and provide the basis for long-term community recovery and mitigation activities. If facility authorities request outside assistance, or if an emergency is declared under the Stafford Act, then other members of the UC could include local and state agencies as well as Federal agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). If an Incident of National Significance is declared, a Principal Federal Official will be appointed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to facilitate Federal support to the UC structure. The following Checklist for Facility Response, Restoration, and Recovery presents the critical steps that would be taken by organizations involved in responding to a biological incident. It is intended for use by key decision-makers in the event that an incident occurs and steps must be taken immediately and systematically. The organizations would follow the Incident Command System (ICS). See Appendix A for more information on the ICS and how the responsible personnel identified in the checklist map into the consequence management organizational structure. The Notification and First-Response Phases are cursorily addressed in the checklist, whereas the main focus is on consequence management actions. The order of actions is generally sequential. However, depending on the specifics of an event and how the response is implemented, actions may be reordered. For example, preparing a Remediation Action Plan (RAP) is identified in the checklist as a critical step of the Remediation Phase. However, it is likely that preparation of the RAP would begin before completing all actions identified in the Characterization Phase. In addition to the actions recommended in the checklist, any emergency response conducted at a major metropolitan facility should comply with notification and response procedures established by the facility, as well as applicable procedures established by the jurisdictional responding agencies.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 900867
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-TR-223815; TRN: US200711%%732
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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