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Emergency Preparedness

Emergency Preparedness: A Community Focused Effort

When there is an emergency, your community knows that they can count on you to be there. But who can you count on to be there when it comes to updating your emergency preparedness plans, organizing workshops, and more? That's where MAPC comes in. 

Municipalities are required to have some type of emergency preparedness plan. But who is offering support to you when it comes to:

  • Keeping your plan updated and tested?
  • Considering the full range of hazards that could threaten your residents?
  • Keeping the appropriate community entities educated in emergency response?
  • Much more

If you need assistance with these types of issues, MAPC's multi-disciplinary team is here to partner with you to help you continue to effectively respond to the emergencies in your region.

The COVID-19 pandemic tested local and regional emergency capabilities like nothing before it, forcing us all to adapt and develop new partnerships and plans. Our task now is to take the lessons learned from COVID-19 to better prepare for future hazards. 

Contact Us

Connect with us to learn more about our emergency management expertise and how we can partner with your municipality.

Beth Robert
Emergency Preparedness Manager
617-485-8651 | erobert@mapc.org

Dan Witts
Emergency Preparedness Specialist
617-485-4073 | dwitts@mapc.org

In partnership with you

Plan, Prepare, Practice, Assess

You're busy responding to emergencies and engaging with your community, so you may not have the time to be able to organize the types of activities (workshops, exercises, drills) that can effectively test your municipality's emergency preparedness plans. Let us help. 

Some of what we can partner with you on:

  • Creating and reviewing emergency preparedness plans, including emergency management and response
  • Emergency plan gap analysis and review
  • Planning emergency preparedness trainings and exercises, including tabletops and drills
  • Incident response evaluation and after-action/improvement plan reports
  • Continuity of operations planning
  • Hazard vulnerability assessments
  • Disaster resilience planning

Why Contract with MAPC?

MAPC is a regional planning agency representing the cities and towns of the Greater Boston region. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30B, Sections 1(b)(3) and (b)(9) exempt municipalities from having to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Quotes, or Invitation for Bids when working directly with MAPC. Due to our public mission, the costs of working with us are kept affordable for municipal budgets and we often supplement local contributions with a range of additional funding options. Please contact us to learn more. 

our multi-disciplinary expertise

We Know the Stakeholders

Do you know your local stakeholders’ emergency preparedness plans? How about neighboring municipalities’ plans? Do they know yours? Through our work, MAPC staff have forged relationships with public and private health and safety personnel across municipalities. We can help you work with your neighbors on multi-municipal plans and exercises. And we’ll help make sure that you’re working with—and taking advantage of the resources offered by—all relevant stakeholders.

We Understand Your Needs

MAPC’s Municipal Collaboration Department has spent years developing and promoting public safety initiatives. We manage projects on behalf of the Northeast Homeland Security Regional Advisory Council, Shannon Community Safety Initiative, and Region 3 Health and Medical Coordinating Coalition.

If you work with MAPC, you’ll be working directly with staff who have responded to and coordinated services for the COVID-19 pandemic, winter and tropical storms, power outages, and the Merrimack Valley Gas Explosion.

Our team’s certifications include:

  • Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) Certified
  • ICS: 100, 200, 300, 400, 402, 700, 800
  • Hospital Incident Command System (HICS)
  • Framework for Healthcare Emergency Management (FAME)

We Have the Resources

Emergencies come in many forms, and we have the in-house resources and expertise to help you plan for a variety of hazards. With MAPC, you’ll have access to a team of experts in legal and data services, land use, public health, IT, clean energy, hazard mitigation, public safety, and more.

Through our relationships with state-wide and regional organizations and knowledge of local, state, and federal funding sources, we’re plugged into the latest opportunities for partnerships and funding.

Tools & Resources

Webinar | April 26, 2022

Municipal Emergency Preparedness: Lessons Learned from COVID-19

Massachusetts municipalities created strong partnerships across their governments and communities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, April 26, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council hosted a webinar on how to apply lessons learned from these networks to other emergencies.

Watch Now

AAR Executive Summary | Aug. 2022

COVID-19 Homebound Vaccination Process After Action Report Executive Summary

MAPC identified homebound vaccination as an area to conduct an AAR because of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 homebound vaccination practices, and how they can inform future vaccination efforts. This Executive Summary provides an overview of the findings.

Read Now

One-Pager | Version 2

Emergency Preparedness One-Pager

Do your plans consider the full range of hazards that may threaten your residents Does everyone who may need to be involved in emergency response understand it? If you need assistance with these types of issues, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council can help. Review our Emergency Preparedness One-Pager to learn more about partnering with us.

Review Now

Recent projects

Recent projects we've worked on include:

  • Developing regional COVID-19 vaccination partnerships
  • Coordinating and facilitating exercises and trainings
  • Coordinating emergency notification system drills and producing after-action reports and improvement plans
  • Writing hazard and vulnerability assessments for health and medical stakeholders
  • Hosting “lessons learned” sessions on the Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions
  • Developing a comprehensive emergency management plan for a municipal partner