Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

130 Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness
many stakeholders in a given community, including older adults, for improved
community health.
Define the Role of Community Organizations
in Emergency Preparedness and Response
The White House report Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina recommended
the inclusion of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the
broader national response effort and called upon state and local governments
to “engage NGOs in the planning process, credential their personnel,
and provide them the necessary resource support for their involvement
in a joint response” (White House, 2006, p. 49). Under the 2008 National
Response Framework, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector
have designated roles based on the National Incident Management System,
a template for emergency response to be used nationwide (FEMA,
2008a). The private sector role is “protecting critical infrastructure systems
and implementing plans for the rapid restoration of normal commercial
activities and critical infrastructure operations in the event of
disruption,” and the nongovernmental role is “performing essential service
missions in times of need” (FEMA, p. 7). While the National Response
Framework emphasizes the need for the systematic integration of the private
sector and nongovernmental organizations in its unified, multilayered
emergency response, it provides little information on how to integrate
these groups in planning or how they will function within the National Incident
Management System in an emergency. Ongoing delays in the publication
of FEMA’s Response Partner Guides , which detail the key roles
and actions for these groups, also hinder the ability of communities to
implement emergency response plans based on these guidelines or incorporate
these groups in existing preparedness efforts (FEMA, 2008a,
2008b).
Provide Preparedness Training
Specifi c to Community Organizations
To be successful, all partners in the response plan must be trained to meet a
baseline level of performance and certification standards (FEMA, 2008a).
While many training programs exist for first responders (FEMA, 2008c),
new training activities should address the contributions and capacities
of nongovernmental and private-sector organizations in emergency pre-