(English captions by Trisha Paul, University of Michigan.)
In this session, you will be introduced to the principles of disaster planning and you
will be introduced to the district disaster planning matrix.
Why do we plan?
Think about why we plan.
We plan for health emergencies to get better prepared to respond to the disaster and save
lives, to know there are resources needed and activities anticipated.
Resources are limited and have to be used in the best possible way.
Good plans should be operational, that is, simple to use, written to include operational-level
detail for each and every thing there is to be done, and accompanied by standard operating
procedures and checklists.
Good plans are consensus-based, that is, written by a group, and they are developed by consensus
among stakeholders.
Good plans are capability-based, that is, based upon what we are actually capable of
doing or we should prescribe activities that lead to building capabilities.
Good plans are objective-based, that is, they should include measurable objectives.
Good plans should be compliant, that is, they should be in line with national guidelines
and policies and in addition regional guidelines and frameworks.
Consensus-based planning.
The best plans are written by those whom will actually implement the plan.
They are viewed as "contracts" that result from the negotiation of various stakeholders.
They require, the process requires a very well-organized facilitation process in order
to save time and result in a product.
Objectives, good disaster management objectives should be SMART.
That is, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound, or Time-based, or Time-referred.
Good objectives answer 5 questions.
What tasks do we perform during the disaster?
Who will perform the tasks?
How will we perform the tasks?
When will we perform the tasks?
Where will we perform the tasks?
Plans may be made according to time, that is short-term plans, intermediate term plans,
and long term plans, but plans may also be made according to degree of detail, either
strategic plans or operational plans.
Strategic plans are broad and general, mainly in the form of protocols.
They prescribe what actions are to be performed broadly.
Operational plans, on the other hand, are detailed and focused and describe how actions
will be performed, who will perform them, when will they be performed, with respect to
the disaster, and where will these actions be performed?
Strategic identification plans do identify the main strategy, provide overview of response,
and identify collaborations.
They do not engage operational level workers and stakeholders, they do not describe detailed
actions, and they often do not provide references in the form of checklists, forms, and templates.
This is an example of a matrix for operational planning.
As you can see, it shows the strategic objective, the operational objectives within that strategy,
the actions, the checklists, if necessary, the responsible parties, the timing with respect
to the disaster, and the location with respect to the disaster.
The planning cycle involves planning, in which we describe the tasks, training, in which
we learn the tasks through meetings, consensus building sessions, negotiations, exercises
in which we perform the tasks and test them with respect to scenarios, analysis, in which
we review the performance of these tasks with respect to the exercises for disasters that
have occurred.
And then we plan again, or improve the plan.
In a plan, collaborate with others, prepare the plan, highlight standards and indicators,
assign tasks, and make relevant checklists, if possible, to guide the implementers on what
we mean by a given operation.
Training.
Train response teams, ensure that tasks are learned, conduct exercises and drills, and
assess performance of exercises.
Exercise.
Implement the plan, implement the pre-disaster activities, implement response activities
in case of a disaster.
Implement the post disaster activities after the disaster.
Analysis.
Monitor and evaluate the plan, check on actual performance, assess what worked and what did
not work, improve the plan, this is called plan maintenance.
Problem issues in current disaster plans include the fact that they are cumbersome to use,
checklists that fail or are not really meant for the disaster, focus on tasks rather
than management, many possible hazards and scenarios, so we try to plan for every possible
hazard that is likely to meet our district, and then lack of clear objectives and measures of effectiveness;
how do we know that we have responded appropriately?
Challenges of emergency management planning for public health emergencies.
Planning must be written by consensus among all stakeholders, that is planners, responders,
and managers.
Planning should not be an end in itself, and it should not be more important than the plan.
It should be a way for everyone to learn the plan so that it is implemented
You shall know be introduced to the district disaster planning matrix.
The SOA matrix is used for planning for disasters.
It stands for Strategic Objectives, Operational Objectives, and Activities.
Districts are already used to planning using matrices.
The strategic objectives in the matrix have already been prepared for you based on the
SHERE Standards.
The operational objectives have already been prepared for you based on the SPHERE Standards.
These were prepared by the regional disaster management training team, and discussed and
analyzed.
These prepared strategic objectives and operational objectives are contained in a matrix that
we shall issue to you, and it is available on this resource.
It is called the 'SOA Library', standing for Strategic, Operational Objectives and Activities.
Under each operational objective, we expect several activities.
Your task is to select the appropriate activities that suit each operational objective.
Revise the objectives if needed, so as to suit your local context and situation.
Some of them can be merged, some of them can be split, some of them can be reworded.
This is the planning matrix that you will use in planning for disasters for your district or agency.
It shows strategic objective, operational objectives, activities, responsible parties,
timing and location, and an estimate of the budget.
Being operational plans, they provide this level of detail so we can know who will exactly
do what in a disaster situation.
The SOA Library is a form of planning capabilities.
You will plan best on capability areas.
These are based on the SPHERE standards.
The capabilities include response management, that is, minimum standards common to all disasters.
The second capability is water, in case of a disaster situation that needs water.
Shelter, in case of a disaster that needs shelter.
Food, in case of a disaster that needs food, what will you do?
Health services, in case of a disaster that requires emergency health services or that
results in a disruption of existing services, what will you do?
So you feature activities that show what you will do for each of these areas in case they are
needed in an emergency disaster situation.
When you make a plan based on these capabilities, the 5 capabilities mentioned, this is called Capability
Based Planning.
When taken together, the sum total of capabilities is what is described as 'capacity'.
These planning capabilities have been used as the basis for developing new strategic objectives and
the operational objectives.
They are contained is an electronic planning template called 'the SOA Library.'
In this extension activity, try and refer to the SPHERE manual and map the strategic
and operational objectives to the response areas that are prescribed in the SPHERE manual.
You will see that they match, however, they have been revised and enhanced to include
issues that were left out and to make them relevant to the Eastern Africa region.
Have a brief exercise to check on this.
Start with the capability on general response management and browse.
Thereafter, look at water and sanitation and see how the strategic and operational objectives
are matched to the major strategic and operational areas prescribed in the SPHERE standards.