BergerWorld: 2nd Quarter 2004

During the September 11, 2001 crisis, senior decision makers recognized the need to improve disaster protocols to effectively warn citizens, quickly evacuate dangerous areas and address unexpected problems efficiently. In response, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) selected the Berger Group to assist in formulating the Regional Emergency Evacuation Coordination Plan as part of a broader Regional Emergency Coordination Plan.

Drawing on Berger's extensive experience in traffic management, the Team identified available evacuation routes and evaluated lane drops and other potential bottlenecks. The Team developed specific scenarios which would require major evacuations and developed transit, highway and transportation demand strategies to mitigate congestion during such emergencies. Berger analysts then worked closely with key transportation and emergency management officials to improve regional coordination during a large-scale incident and refine the emergency plans and maps initially developed by the Berger team.

Following these meetings, Berger convened a major workshop, including local administrators such as the General Manager of the Washington Metro and federal authorities from the Department of Defense, the Office of Personnel Management, the General Services Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Administration to review the emergency plans and the status of local coordination efforts. Through this interactive process, the Team developed a multi-faceted response to a variety of scenarios and organized the findings into a structured questionnaire and worksheets to assist authorities.

Because of the pressing need, the Team developed and completed the detailed emergency response plan within five weeks and presented it to the clients ahead of schedule. While the first phase of the project produced a sound stand-alone plan, it also identified serious gaps in emergency planning. To remedy these deficiencies, the MWCOG asked Berger in phase two to analyze the impact of improved traffic and demand management on various evacuation strategies, inventory available transportation resources, improve the response time of emergency warning systems and update plans for public communications. Because an incident can occur nearly anywhere, Berger worked with MWCOG and local jurisdictions to identify regional emergency through routes. The Team also assisted public officials in establishing that in many situations, people not in danger are better off staying where they are.

In a parallel yet integrated effort, the Team conducted three workshops responding to hypothetical incidents in specific locations to improve communication, command and operational flows for a variety of scenarios. The information gained in the workshops was used to further reconfigure the worksheets and other tools developed in phase one.

Berger also worked with officials from Missouri in an ambitious program to upgrade the state's emergency management response plans to meet the new guidelines established by the Department of Homeland Security. To ensure that communities around Missouri were prepared for a natural or terrorist event, the Berger Group worked with Missouri's State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to reexamine Local Emergency Operating Plans (LEOPs) and develop improved protocols.

Berger focused its efforts on rewriting the LEOPs to meet new regulations and standardizing them in a single operating system. The Team first met with emergency coordinators and local officials from 149 political jurisdictions to establish their needs before recommending specific community emergency management plans. During the consulting process, the Team found that many jurisdictions had not updated their response plans in more than 20 years and were in urgent need of improved plans incorporating new methods of communication and faster transportation. Once plans were complete, the Team reviewed the changes with local officials and the SEMA coordinator to confirm that they met local needs as well as state and federal requirements. These new plans will guide local officials through emergencies and will provide residents with timely information in critical situations.