VHA Office of Emergency Management

4 Phases of CEMP

In the VHA Comprehensive Emergency Management Program (CEMP), OEM addresses all four phases of emergency management cycle:

Mitigation/Prevention = efforts to reduce the impact of disasters.  OEM programs evaluate facility resiliency and fund improvements to critical systems that keep facilities operating in disasters. 

Preparedness = development of plans, resources, and capabilities to manage and recover from the impacts of disasters.  OEM programs assess capabilities; establish policy and guidance; train staff and promote best practices; coordinate execises to test capabilities; provide systems, equipment, and funding to ensure VHA is properly equipped;

Response = activities to stop and reverse the adverse effects of disasters or emergencies on services and operations.  OEM coordinates VHA response and recovery operations in support of affected VHA facilities by providing assistance in the form of resources, critical commodities and utlities, communicatons, personnel, and response teams.  OEM also delivers and coordinates VHA support to our nation's communities affected by nationally-declared disasters.

Recovery = both short and long term restoration of the capabilities impacted by emergencies and disasters.  OEM response support operations transition to recovery support operations once the hazards of the disaster have been stabilized.  Long term recovery may require alternate or improved facilities, which links to mitigation. It also includes analysis of lessons learned for improvement of response capabilities, which links to preparedness.

Improvement

VHA's Comprehensive Emergency Management Program (CEMP) focuses on improving VHA disaster resiliency and response capabilities.  

CEMP elements focusing on improving the capabilities include:

• Exercise development & coordination 
• Training 
• Developing and expanding resilient communcations 
• Developing situational awareness communications systems
• Performance Improvement Management System (PIMS) 
• Fielding response and recovery assets and equipment 
• Quality Program ensures ongoing improvement of CEMP

Field Programs

OEM's Field Program staff located throught the nation provide direct assistance and support to VHA facilities and networks for the enhancement of emergency program capabilities and to provide disaster response support when needed.

Components of this program include:

• Field Services Program 
• On-site assistance
• On-site training
• Capabilities Assessment Program 
• Exercise coordination
• Coordinating National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) patient reception operations
• Emergency Management Program Guidebook (PDF 4.12mb; March 2011)

Response Programs

OEM delivers and coordinates VHA support missions for VHA facilites affected by disasters, and also performs missions assigned to VA by FEMA or US Dept. of Health & Human Services for response to and recovery from nationally-declared emergencies and disasters. 

OEM's capabilities for response & recovery include:

• Coordination of VHA-level incident response operations 
• Patient reception under the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) 
• Mobilization of support personnel through DEMPS
• Mobilization of mobile response/recovery assets 
• Mobilization of VHA's incident management & response teams 
• Coordinating resource sharing within VHA through the Emergency Mobile Asset inventory (EMAI)