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Steering Through The Storm: Guiding Your Community Through a Disaster

During times of natural or human-made disasters and pandemics, cities are often faced with the challenge of steering through the “storm,” continuing city business operations, and communicating effectively, to meet the basic needs of their community as well as managing the needs and demands of the on-going recovery operation. While the initial focus following a major disaster is to respond to the life safety aspects of the emergency, multiple tasks will quickly emerge to face the local leadership team. Is your city prepared for the organizational resiliency necessary to sustain regular services as well as emergency operations during the four distinct phases of a disaster? What is the role of elected leaders in these scenarios? This class will define the various types of disasters, review the four phases of a disaster, and the planning and preparedness required for community resilience in responding to disasters, exploring methods for prioritizing crucial essential services, and recognizing the multiple impacts on the local economy, city services and city staff. This class includes some content from the previous class “Emergency Management.” Those who previously took Emergency Management can take this class and receive credit towards a training certificate.