Hello All. I have been tasked with updating a course entitled "Emergency and Disaster Preparedness for 9-1-1 Dispatchers". I am looking for Internet resources for employees that cannot leave their posts during emergencies and disasters. We currently touch upon preparedness at work, preparing the home (since one parent will not be returning soon), and two-responder households where both parents will be staying at work/responding to work.

Thank you in advance for your help.

There may be two issues. One is whether your dispatchers are in a safe room, depending on what disaster may befall them:

Design Guidance for Shelters and Safe Rooms -
http://www.fema.gov/txt/plan/prevent/rms/453/fema453.txt

Design and Construction Guidance for Community Safe Rooms
http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1657

The other issue is what they have with them in the room. Basically, that's a shelter in place situation, and I'd do a search on that to see what turns up that's applicable. They probably don't need to tape the windows and doors and such, but again that depends on their location and the disaster.

A central repository for critical documents and instructions (Blast's Binder) is particularly important when you expect one of the adults to need to stay at work.

It's an interesting challenge getting people to think about disasters and emergencies from more than a business perspectives. Computer systems, policies and procedures and such can easily become the focus. Kudos to you for not just focusing on business requirements.

All the people on the team need to be personally prepared too. When I led our BCP team a few years ago, I was stunned that the other team leaders and our team members didn't get this. When I asked them about preparing personal kits I got confused looks. A plan for home? Huh?

This angle will probably be your toughest task. For the business to succeed, you need your people to be personally prepared and know that things are well in hand on the homefront.

I tackled it with a simulation first, to open their minds. After that, the information and details took on more relevance.

A list like FEMA's is simple, and combined with a compiling s binder like Blast's would be a great starting point to get them thinking proactively and taking the next step: action!

Thank you Philip. Some communications centers are hardened against everything you could imagine, other, not so much. Same goes with supplies. In class, we introduce the idea of bringing a backpack to work with supplies personalized to the individual. Not really a BOB or GHB per say, more of a bug-in bag for work, that travels with them. It is one thing that they have direct control over. They are so used to handling emergencies for other people, most have never considered how they would handle one that includes themselves.

Excellent idea chaosmagnet. I am adding it to the course. Thanks.

Thanks bacpacjac. A simulation is a good idea. My co-instructor uses the San Bruno gas line explosion as his teaching example. He was a mutual aid dispatcher when it blew, working for two hours in the communications center, then deploying with the field command post for another 28 hours. In total, tactical dispatchers staffed the field command post for 14 days. Although tragic due to the loss of life and property, this event was nothing compared to what a major earthquake would do to the same area.

KI6IW...somewhat pertains to topic... does your county have dedicated evacuations sites that are for families of emergency workers?.... we have a somewhat different set of requirements, typically hurricanes down here, but have several fire stations that will be in-house manned with paramedics for the use of on call emergency worker's families... easier to do your job knowing that your family is being looked after