EAHA DM 3.4a: Principles of Disaster Planning - Captions

This is a remix of 3.4a: Principles of Disaster Planning narrated by Roy William Mayega (Makerere University). This version includes English captions. The original video (without captions) can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIb1zOeBKME. Video transcribed by Trisha Paul (University of Michigan). This video is part of a learning module from the East Africa HEALTH Alliance called Public Health Emergency Planning and Management for Districts. The full module and the video transcript can be accessed at http://openmi.ch/disaster-mgmt. Copyright 2009-2019 Roy Mayega (Makerere University). The video, transcript, and module are all shared under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 3.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.

(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.