What's the best way to create a continuity of operations plan for your EOC?

1 Identify essential functions

The first step is to identify the essential functions that your EOC performs, such as providing situational awareness, coordinating resources, supporting decision-making, and communicating with stakeholders. You should prioritize these functions based on their importance, urgency, and interdependence. You should also identify the key personnel, equipment, systems, and data that support these functions, and the potential impacts if they are disrupted or lost.

2 Analyze risks and threats

The next step is to analyze the risks and threats that could affect your EOC's operations, such as natural hazards, technological failures, cyberattacks, or human-caused incidents. You should assess the likelihood and severity of these scenarios, and how they would impact your essential functions, personnel, equipment, systems, and data. You should also identify any existing mitigation measures, such as backup generators, firewalls, or security protocols, that could reduce the risk or impact of these scenarios.

3 Develop contingency strategies

The third step in the process is to formulate contingency strategies for each essential function based on the risk analysis. These strategies should explain how the EOC can continue to carry out its essential functions, or resume them as soon as possible, in case of a disruption or loss of its normal operations. To this end, some possible strategies include relocating to an alternate facility, activating a backup or mobile EOC, establishing mutual aid agreements with other EOCs or agencies, implementing telework or remote work arrangements for EOC staff, utilizing alternative communication methods or platforms for contact with stakeholders, and recovering or restoring critical equipment, systems, or data from backups or cloud storage.

4 Write and test the plan

The final step is to write and test the COOP for your EOC. The plan should include a purpose statement that outlines the scope, objectives, and assumptions of the plan. Additionally, it should list essential functions and their priority, along with the key personnel, equipment, systems, and data that support them. Moreover, a risk analysis should be conducted to identify potential scenarios that could affect the EOC's operations, and their likelihood and impact. A contingency strategy for each essential function should be provided, which includes roles and responsibilities, procedures, and resources involved. Furthermore, a training and exercise program should be implemented to ensure the EOC staff are familiar with the plan and can implement it effectively. Lastly, a maintenance and update process is necessary to review and revise the plan regularly or as needed to reflect any changes in the EOC's operations, environment, or requirements. The plan should be tested regularly or at least annually through drills, simulations, or tabletop exercises to evaluate its effectiveness, identify any gaps or weaknesses, and make any necessary improvements.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?