Appendix B
Glossary of Terms
Alternate EOC: A site located away from the primary EOC where officials exercise direction and coordination in an emergency or disaster.
Catastrophic Disaster: An event or incident that produces severe and widespread damages of a magnitude that requires significant resources from outside the affected area to provide the necessary response.
Command Post: A designated location at a safe distance from the disaster or emergency site where the on-scene coordinator, responders and technical representatives can make response decisions, deploy manpower and equipment, maintain liaison with media, and handle communications.
Communications System: Includes the processes, procedures and systems for communicating timely and accurate information to the public during emergency situations.
Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP): A plan that defines responsibilities for maintaining office functions in the event of an emergency preventing work in the normal business environment and normal staff.
Critical Facilities: Facilities essential to emergency response, such as fire stations, police stations, hospitals and communications centers.
Disaster: Any imminent threat or actual occurrence of widespread or severe damage, injury or loss of life or property resulting from a natural or man-made cause that requires local, state and federal assistance to alleviate damage, loss, hardship or suffering.
Drill: A method or procedure that involves elements of a preparedness plan or the use of specific equipment.
Damage Assessment: An appraisal or determination of the number of injuries or deaths, damage to public or private property, status of critical facilities, services, communication networks, public works, utilities and transportation resulting from an emergency or disaster.
Decontamination: Reduction or removal of chemical, biological or radioactive material from a structure, area, object or person.
Direction and Control: Determining and understanding responsibilities to respond appropriately and expeditiously at a centralized center and/or on-scene location during emergency operations.
Emergency Operations Center (EOC): Physical location for the management of an emergency.
Emergency: A man-made or natural hazard that seriously threatens the loss of life and damage to property within a community or multijurisdictional area, and requires local and/or state response to save lives and protect property, public health and safety. The Board of Regents has further defined the term “emergency” as any natural, nuclear, man-made or war-related disaster, any health-related catastrophe or any phenomenon that disrupts Board of Regents’ facilities or operations.
Emergency Alert System (EAS): A digital voice/text technology communications system consisting of broadcast stations and interconnecting facilities authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to provide public information before, during and after disasters. An emergency notification system established for the Ƶ campus community provides emergency information through several modes of communication. Currently, the Ƶ EAS contacts the campus community through cellphone (text and voice), landline phone and email.
Emergency First Aid: Emergency first aid, consisting of basic first aid and referral to appropriate medical personnel and facilities, is provided at mass-care facilities and at designated sites.
Emergency Management: An organized analysis, planning, direction and coordination of resources to mitigate, prepare, respond and assist with recovery from an emergency or disaster.
Emergency Management Plan (EMP): A document describing mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery actions necessary by local government and designated and supporting agencies or organizations in preparation of an anticipated emergency or disaster.
Emergency Public Information: Information released to the public by county, state and federal agencies concerning the emergency at hand and protective actions to be taken.
Emergency Support Function (ESF): A functional area of response activity established to facilitate the delivery of assistance required during the immediate public safety. ESFs represent those types of assistance that will most likely be needed because of the overwhelming impact an emergency has on resources and response capabilities, or because of the specialized or unique nature of the assistance required. ESF missions are designed to supplement local response efforts. The EOC leader is responsible for assigning the ESFs during an emergency.
Essential Personnel: Employees designated by the COOP as essential for work during an emergency or employees so designated by the university in a time of emergency. Exercise: A simulated occurrence of a man-made or natural emergency or disaster involving planning, preparation, operations, practice and evaluation.
Evacuees: Persons moving from areas threatened or struck by an emergency or disaster.
Federal Disaster Assistance: Aid to disaster victims and state and local governments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies.
Hazard: A dangerous situation or occurrence that may result in an emergency or disaster.
Hazard Assessment: A document published separately from this plan that identifies the local hazards that have caused or possess the potential to adversely affect public health and safety, public or private property, or the environment.
Hazards Identification/Analysis: A systematic study of all hazards that could significantly affect life and property within a jurisdiction. Hazard identification typically prioritizes hazards according to the threat they pose and provide insight into the history and probability of occurrences. An analysis includes the history, vulnerability and probability assessments related to the hazard.
Hazardous Material: Any substance or material in any quantity or form that may be harmful or injurious to humans, domestic animals, wildlife, economic crops or property when released into the environment. Hazardous materials are classified in this plan as chemical, biological, radiological or explosive. Hazardous materials include any of the following, often referred to as CBRNE:
- Chemical: Toxic, corrosive or injurious substance because of inherent chemical properties and includes, but is not limited to, such items as petroleum products, paints, plastics, acids, caustics, industrial chemicals, poisons, drugs and mineral fibers (asbestos).
- Biological: Microorganisms or associated products which may cause disease in humans, animals or economic crops and includes pathogenic wastes from medical institutions, slaughterhouses, poultry processing plants, and the like. Radiological: Any radioactive substance emitting ionizing radiation at a level to produce a health hazard.
- Nuclear: Weapons that release nuclear energy in an explosive manner as the result of nuclear chain reactions involving fission and/or fusion of atomic nuclei.
- Explosive: Material capable of releasing energy with a blast effect in a split second upon activation; the released energy usually damages or destroys objects in close proximity to the blast.
Human Services: Provides victim-related recovery efforts such as counseling, identifying support for persons with special needs, expediting processing of new benefits claims, and assisting in collecting crime victim compensation for acts of terrorism.
Incident Action Plan: A written document completed by an organization during a disaster or emergency that details that organization’s proposed activities for a 24-hour period.
Incident Annex: Section of the City of Brookings Emergency Management Plan that explains how the function will be carried out based upon a specific incident and that has been identified by a hazard analysis (e.g., tornado, flood, drought, terrorism, debris clearance and winter storm).
Incident Command Post (ICP): The field location at which the primary tactical level, on-scene incident command functions are performed. The ICP may be collocated with the incident base or other incident facilities and is normally identified by a green rotating or flashing light.
Incident Command System (ICS): The combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures and communications operating within a common organizational structure, with responsibility for management of assigned resources, to effectively accomplish stated objectives at the scene of an incident. An ICS is used for all kinds of emergencies and is applicable to small as well as large and complex incidents. It defines the operating characteristics, management components and structure of emergency management organizations throughout the life cycle of an incident.
Inter-local Agreements: Arrangements between Ƶ and governments or organizations, either public or private, for reciprocal aid and assistance during emergency situations where the resources of a single jurisdiction or organization are insufficient or inappropriate for the tasks that must be performed to control the situation. This is also commonly referred to as a mutual aid agreement.
Joint Information Center (JIC): A single facility from which multi-organizational emergency public information can be coordinated and disseminated.
Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC): Committees established in each local jurisdiction by the state emergency planning committee to conduct planning activities for hazardous materials emergencies, including development of a hazardous materials plan and dissemination of hazardous materials information to the local public.
Mass Care: Involves the coordination of nonmedical mass-care services to include sheltering of victims, organizing feeding operations, providing emergency first aid at designated sites, collecting and providing information on victims to family members, and coordinating bulk distribution of emergency relief items.
Mitigation: Saves valuable resources and prevents suffering and hardship in future disasters by breaking the repetitive cycle of destruction and reconstruction through actions designed to reduce the long-term risk to human life and property from hazards. Mitigation involves three basic approaches: avoidance of spatially predicted natural hazards, human activity and the built environment (e.g., limited development in flood-prone areas). Spatially unpredictable hazards include activities that are not vulnerable to hazards (e.g., establishing building codes that require building or retrofitting resulting in less likely damage); and hazard-prone areas, such as urban settings, which involve development or activity to shield from a hazard (e.g., flood control structures) and limit activity and use of land.
Mutual-Aid Agreements and Memorandum(s) of Understanding: A formal (written) or informal understanding between jurisdictions or agencies that describes methods and types of assistance available between two-or-more entities during emergencies.
Multi-agency Coordination Systems: Defines the operating characteristics, management components and organizational structure of supporting entities.
National Incident Management System (NIMS): A system mandated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) that provides a consistent, nationwide approach for federal, state, local and tribal governments; the private sector; and nongovernmental organizations to work effectively and efficiently together to prepare for, respond to and recover from domestic incidents, regardless of cause, size or complexity. To provide for interoperability and compatibility among federal, state, local and tribal capabilities, the system includes a core set of concepts, principles and terminology. HSPD-5 identifies these as the ICS; multi-agency coordination systems; training; identification and management of resources (including systems for classifying types of resources); qualification and certification; and the collection, tracking and reporting of incident information and incident resources.
National Warning System (NAWAS): A communications system that supports the nonmilitary actions taken by federal agencies, by the private sector and by individual citizens, to meet essential human needs; to support the military effort; to ensure continuity of federal authority at national and regional levels; and to ensure survival as a free and independent nation under all emergency conditions, including a national emergency caused by threatened or actual attack on the U.S.
Needs Assessment: An evaluation conducted by emergency management officials identifying, obtaining and providing necessary resources and services to the victims of a disaster or emergency.
Nonessential Personnel: Employees designated by the COOP as not being necessary for work during a particular emergency or employees so designated by the university in a time of emergency.
Non-instructional Staff: Administrative staff who are not assigned to classroom or instructional laboratory support activities and faculty members whose primary responsibilities are for research or service.
Paid Administrative Leave: Paid time off for which employees in permanent positions are not required to use leave in the event campus offices are officially closed. They are required to document administrative leave on their time or leave/time report.
Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA): Under the public assistance program, it verifies that a disaster exceeds the response capabilities of the state and local governments, and ascertains if supplemental federal assistance is required. This assessment includes the identification of potential issues that could affect program delivery such as insurance, environmental or historic preservation concerns, and identification of potential hazard mitigation opportunities.
Preparedness: Maintaining emergency management capabilities in readiness, preventing capabilities from failing, and augmenting the jurisdiction’s capability including training, developing, conducting and evaluating exercises, identifying and correcting deficiencies, and planning to safeguard personnel, equipment, facilities and resources from effects of a hazard.
Presidential Disaster Declaration: The Stafford Act (§401) requires that: “All requests for a declaration by the president that a major disaster exists shall be made by the governor of the affected state.” The governor’s request is made through the regional FEMA/EPR office. State and federal officials conduct a preliminary damage assessment to estimate the extent of the disaster and its impact on individuals and public facilities. This information is included in the governor’s request to show that the disaster is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and the local governments and that federal assistance is necessary. Normally, the PDA is completed before the submission of the governor’s request. However, when an obviously severe or catastrophic event occurs, the governor’s request may be submitted before the PDA. Nonetheless, the governor must still make the request. As part of the request, the governor must take appropriate action under state law and direct execution of the state’s emergency plan. The governor shall furnish information on the nature and amount of state and local resources that have been or will be committed to alleviating the results of the disaster, provide an estimate of the amount and severity of damage and the impact on the private and public sector, and provide an estimate of the type and amount of assistance needed under the Stafford Act. In addition, the governor will need to certify that, for the current disaster, state and local government obligations and expenditures (of which state commitments must be a significant proportion) will comply with all applicable cost-sharing requirements. Based on the governor’s request, the president may declare that a major disaster or emergency exists, thus activating an array of federal programs to assist in the response and recovery effort.
Primary Agency: The department or agency assigned primary responsibility to manage and coordinate a specific ESF. Primary agencies are designated on the basis of their having the most authorities, resources, capabilities or expertise relative to accomplishment of the specific ESF support. Primary agencies are responsible for overall planning and coordination of the delivery of ESF-related assistance.
Public Information: Dissemination of information in anticipation of an emergency or disaster and timely actions, updates and instructions regarding an actual occurrence.
Public Information Officer (PIO): A person responsible for preparing and coordinating the dissemination of emergency public information.
Recovery: Activities that usually begin within days after an incident and continue after the response activities are completed and include actions by disaster victims, enabling them to begin the process of rebuilding their homes; replacing property; resuming employment; restoring their businesses; permanently repairing, rebuilding or relocating public infrastructure; and mitigating future disaster losses.
Response: Activities to address the immediate and short-term effects of an emergency or disaster to save lives and/or protect property, stabilize emergency or disaster situations, and initiate actions to notify emergency management representatives of the crisis, evacuate and/or shelter the population, inform the public about the situation, assess the damage, and request additional assistance, as needed.
Risk: A measure of the probability that damage to life, property and/or the environment will occur if a hazard manifests itself. This measure includes the severity of anticipated consequences to people.
Shelter: A facility used to protect, house and supply the essential needs of individuals and families who have been forced from their homes by an emergency or disaster. A shelter may or may not be specifically constructed for such use, depending on the type of emergency and the specific programmatic requirements.
Special Needs Populations: Groups of people that may be more susceptible to the damage from an emergency or disaster to the than the general population (e.g., pre-existing health conditions, infants, and the elderly, or non-English speaking).
Staging Area: A preselected location removed from the emergency site, such as a large parking area where equipment can be collected, stored and distributed for use by emergency personnel. The staging area provides a base for resource transfer. Several staging areas may be designated, depending upon the scope and intensity of the emergency.
Stakeholder: The term stakeholder is used throughout the plan and refers to a person, group or organization that has a direct or indirect stake in the university or the plan because it can affect or be affected by the actions, objectives and plan.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP): Checklists or guidance developed by each specific responding organization that detail responsible individuals by name and phone number, detail specific task assignments, and a step-by-step process of responsibilities relating to each ESF.
State Public Assistance Program: A presidential-declared disaster is the beginning of the public assistance program. A presidential disaster could be a result of any natural disaster, which includes floods, tornadoes, winter storms and wildfires. Once a disaster is declared, the South Dakota Public Assistance Program is initiated. FEMA grants money to the State of South Dakota to eligible public entities to repair and restore damaged public facilities within a federally declared disaster area. Such entities include state agencies, local governments, and certain private, nonprofit organizations. In return, the state manages this money and grants it to the eligible applicants. The state works directly with the applicants to ensure eligibility. Also, once eligible applicants are determined, the state ensures proper documentation is being kept to receive FEMA-granted money.
Support Agency: A department or agency designated to assist a primary agency with available resources, capabilities or expertise in support of response operations, under the coordination of the primary agency with designated ESF responsibility.
Terrorist Incident: A violent act or an act dangerous to human life in violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any state, to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment thereof in furtherance of political of social objectives.
Triage: Process of sorting casualties based on severity and survivability.
Unified Command: Jurisdictional command structure implemented when an incident response exceeds the capabilities of the immediate emergency response resources.
Vulnerability Assessment: Evaluation of elements in the community that are subject to damage should a hazard occur. It includes gathering information on the extent of the vulnerable zone, conditions that influence the zone, size and type of the population within the zone, private and public property that might be damaged, and the environment that might be affected.
Warning: Alerting government, agencies and organizations with ESF responsibilities, and the public regarding the threat of extraordinary danger (e.g., tornado warning, hurricane warning, severe storm warning) and that such occurrence has been sighted or observed specifying related effects that may occur due to this hazard.
Watch: Indications by the National Weather Service that, in a defined area, conditions are possible or favorable for the specific types of severe weather (e.g., flash flood watch, tropical storm watch).