4.1 Maricopa Emergency Management System (MEMS)

Purpose

Under the authority of the Chancellor of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), the mission of the Maricopa Emergency Management System (MEMS) team is to develop, implement and maintain a District-wide emergency management program that complies with National Incident Management System (NIMS) guidelines. MEMS scope will include, but is not limited to, emergency operations plans (EOP) and Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP), previously referred to as business continuity plans (BCP).

NIMS provides a systematic, proactive approach to guide all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work seamlessly to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity, in order to reduce the loss of life and property and harm to the environment.

Background

Upon review of the MCCCD’s emergency operations and continuity of operations plans, the Chancellor formally charged a group with the task to identify potential actions to be undertaken to improve MCCCD’s emergency preparedness and continuity of operations plans at all MCCCD sites, as well as to facilitate the implementation of those measures. This program was named Maricopa Emergency Management System (MEMS).

Since MEMS’ creation, the MCCCD has been engaged in a comprehensive and systemic effort to improve processes and protocols for the prevention of, preparedness for, response to and recovery from any emergency or crisis. Prior to this effort, each college and the District Office handled emergency planning independently resulting in vast differences in scope, approach and quality of the plans.

Approach to Emergency Management

The MEMS Team has adopted the “All-hazards” approach to emergency management. An “all-hazards” plan provides the basic framework for responding to a wide variety of emergencies varying in scale, duration and cause. All hazards within a jurisdiction must be considered as part of a thorough risk assessment and prioritized on the basis of impact and likelihood of occurrence. There are similarities in how one reacts to all emergency events and these event-specific actions form the basis for most emergency plans.

Emergency planning will begin with the identification of the emergency events that have occurred on a campus or in the community in the recent past since these are the known and, generally, the most probable hazards.

Responsibilities

The Chancellor shall possess the authority to declare a state of emergency for any site within the MCCCD. The Chancellor shall insure compliance with NIMS guidelines.

The Chancellor and the Chancellor’s Executive Council shall be charged with the overall responsibility to develop, implement, and maintain a written emergency operations plan and a written continuity of operations plan for the District Office departments and colleges, respectively.

Both types of plans will be prepared using templates created by the District Emergency Manager and approved by the MEMS Team. These plans will address all elements and best practices in the disciplines of emergency management and continuity of operations planning.

The District Emergency Manager in collaboration with the MEMS Team will coordinate and provide guidance to each college and District Office department to ensure plans are properly completed and updated annually, are NIMS compliant and incorporate best practices of the discipline. Additionally, the District Emergency Manager and the MEMS Team will support the colleges through annual training and exercises of their plans to include evaluation, dissemination of after action reports and lessons learned from the exercises. Plan gaps identified in training exercises will be corrected in revised plans.

Annual Review for Effectiveness

Each college and the District Office shall submit its updated Emergency Operations Plan and updated Continuity of Operations Plan to the District Emergency Manager by June 30 of every year for review. Each college and the District Office shall also report key performance indicators to the District Emergency Manager by June 30 of every year. These reports should highlight progress to date, what remains to be done, and what additional assistance and/or resources are needed.

The MEMS Team will review and approve each plan submitted and shall subsequently submit an annual report to the Chancellor and the Chancellor’s Executive Council that summarizes the progress towards meeting emergency operations and continuity of operations program goals and objectives for the previous year. The annual report will also articulate the goals and objectives for the coming year. This report shall be submitted by September 1 of each year.