Here's how you can master emergency response protocols and procedures.

"Your failure to properly plan does not constitute an emergency on my part". Keep that saying posted in your office and never fail to remind yourself of it. Going through the four phases of emergency management planning principals is not an easy task. Take your time, ask for assistance from neighboring agencies and from (in Texas) County and State officials. Learn from those who have been through incidents. Failure is not an option and when your up to your a$$ in alligators is not the time to realize your shortcomings. It all sounds like cliches, but your community is depending on you. Lastly, NEVER, NEVER try to outguess mother nature. She will fool you and prove you wrong every time.

Let me start out by saying this: you can never fully master emergency response protocols and procedures. You can get better at it - but if you think you have mastered it you are setting yourself up for failure.

As an HSE professional, I've navigated the critical phases of emergency management: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. Mitigation involves reducing disaster impacts, Preparedness means getting plans and training ready, Response is about acting swiftly, and Recovery focuses on rebuilding and improving. Remember, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." — Helen Keller. My journey shows that understanding these stages and working together makes us resilient and ready for any challenge. With years in offshore HSE, I've mastered emergency management from proactive risk mitigation and thorough preparedness to decisive response and strategic recovery, ensuring safety in dynamic marine environments.

Emergency Management Plans and related procedures are usually overlooked when auditing safety processes. The inclusion of monitoring and measuring techniques are required to fulfill the main goal of such procedures and identify where opportunities for improvement are required or may be lacking.

Effective emergency management begins with meticulous planning. Start by identifying all potential risks and hazards in your environment. Next, craft a detailed Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) tailored to these specific threats. Your EOP should clearly outline everyone's roles and responsibilities, include robust communication strategies, and detail evacuation routes. It’s crucial to regularly review and rehearse your plan to ensure it adapts to new challenges and remains effective. Remember, the success of our response in critical situations hinges on the strength of our preparation. Let's stay vigilant and proactive in our planning to safeguard our community and it is important to plan to mitigate the risks in emergency procedure.

It will also helps if we ensure that the plans are accessible to everyone. Develop protocols in multiple formats (written, audio, visual) to cater to individuals with disabilities. During the planning process include people with disabilities so as to ensure their needs are met during an emergency.

Working in the field. Practically dealing with emergencies, I do not shoot down the importance of book knowledge but a degree does not teach you how to behave in an emergency or how to respond. One has to get down and dirty to learn this.

While you should always train regularly, remember to train with a purpose. You are training to keep people safe during a crisis event. Take the training seriously and ensure others give it the respect it deserves. Have the mindset that every training session could save someone’s life.

In my experience, a Community plan of the Geographical Location was needed to know where everything is and whom to contact in an emergency. As any misinformation to the press or the public can cause an upset and hinder any form of investigation

FEMA/DHS/CISA provides us with a fantastic library of resources: NIMS, ICS, Planning P, 5 Mission Areas & 32 Core Capabilities, Community Lifelines, 5 Phases Cycle, Critical Infrastructure Sectors, etc, etc... However, these are meant to be scalable and adaptable to the needs of your organization/jurisdiction. It is up to YOU as the emergency management authority to ensure that these tools are being implemented how they best fit for your needs and capabilities.

One thing that I find helpful is to try to ask three questions what is the Conversation about, how do we feel, and who are we, have a discussion and see it from everyone's perspective for everyone to be in Sync and the same wavelength to work to work all together as one.

Any bonus I got I put a little in a book/course fund to keep me on top of EM protocols/procedures. Invest in yourself by keeping up to date on your area of responsibilities.

In Texas, the County EMC's office is one of the first contact points in an emergency and during recovery. Encourage, if not already present, your county emc to begin holding periodic luncheons. Individual cities can share this as well. Your surrounding cities and your county offices are your primary sources for assistance. Luncheon meetings are excellent opportunities to share information and ask questions. State EMC personnel, FEMA and other disaster organizations are more than willing to come to these events to make presentations on important updates as well as helpful information for you to incorporate into your plan. Do not think your are alone in this process.

Establish a network of managers who have varied experiences in EM - ask them for their 'worst case scenario' - and reverse engineer it with your team.

Few things I found helpful were: 1. Always join capacity of immediate response during evaluation of situation which imply HR, log (kits, WASH items...) 2. To have a pool of professionals from regular team who volunteer to be first responder, team A and B 3. Emphasize on the importance of communicating with communities and other actors to mitigate the frustration and allow humanitarian access in a complex security context