2011 Webinar presentation for FEMA regarding the Orange County Citizen Corps Exercises

1. Orange County Citizen Corps
Exercises
Presentation by:
Brenda Emrick
Community Education Officer Volunteer
Coordinator
City of Costa Mesa
Mary Jo Flynn
Emergency Management Assistant Director
City of Anaheim

2. Orange County Citizen Corps
Partners

3. What Sparked the Momentum
• Established the CERT
Mutual Aid Program
(CMAP) in 2006
• Conducted the County’s
first Volunteer Mutual Aid
Drill (VMAD)
• A few months later, the
program was activated for
the 2007 Santiago Fires

4. Our Next Steps
• Finalized a mutual aid
agreement with the
County
• Garnered the interest of
California Volunteers who
used our program as a
model for Disaster Corps
• Developed a training
program to address
lessons learned

5. The 3-Year Exercise Strategy
• First exercise was a
morning seminar and
afternoon tabletop
• Goal of the exercise
was to provide an
overview of each
program’s capabilities
and discussion based
TTX that identified the
capabilities of citizen
responders

6. 2010 Exercise Background
Planning
• Work with HSEEP guidelines
• Vendor Selection
• Citizen Corp Partners Planning Team
• TTX Scenario:
– Identify CC partners and their capabilities in a
simulated earthquake response
– Short and Long Term goals for response
– Training and outreach post response

7. Exercise Outcomes &
Challenges
• Costs & Logistics
• Planning Team Commitment
• Working with a Contractor
• Discussion vs. Action Oriented Event
• Lessons Learned

8. Sustained Exercise Planning

9. In Review:
A Building Block Approach
• Started with a small coalition of partners
within one of the Citizen Corps programs,
CERT
• Developed an agreement with the county
for volunteer mutual-aid
• Provided exercises and active experiences
and reviewed Lessons Learned

10. How We Did it in Review
• Involved key stakeholders and first
responder partners in the planning ,
delivery of the exercise and long term
citizen preparedness goals
• Allowed the key first responder colleagues
to offer information colleague-to-colleague
to build buy-in and trust
• Worked within “their” system to
incorporate Federal exercise planning
strategies and guidance to increase buy-in

11. Questions & Contacts
Brenda Emrick Mary Jo Flynn
• (714) 327-7406 • (714) 765-6955
• BEMRICK@ci.costa- • maryjflynn@anaheim.net
mesa.ca.us
• Anaheim Fire Department
• Costa Mesa Fire Emergency Management
Department Division
• 77 Fair Drive • 500 E. Broadway
• Costa Mesa, CA 92626 • Anaheim, CA 92805