Emergency Preparedness

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MAPC >> Our Work >> Expertise >> Public Safety >> Emergency Preparedness

Emergency Preparedness

All municipalities are required to have emergency preparedness plans. But are your community's plan regularly updated and tested?

Do your plans consider the full range of hazards that may threaten your residents, vistors, and businesses?

Does everyone who may need to be involved in emergency response understand their role in these plans?

You may not have the time to organize the types of workshops, exercises, and drills that can effectively test your municipality’s emergency preparedness plans. You might want assistance evaluating or redrafting your plans. Or you may want to take advantage of MAPC’s region-wide connections with public safety, emergency management, and public health officials to strengthen the ties you’ll find invaluable in a crisis.

Whatever your needs, MAPC’s multi-disciplinary team is here to help you respond effectively to the next emergency.

Contact Us

Beth Robert
Emergency Preparedness Manager
617-485-8651 | [email protected]

Dan Witts
Emergency Preparedness Specialist
617-485-4073 | [email protected]

Jenifer Wallitsch
Emergency Preparedness Specialist
617-780-1920 | [email protected]

Read our MAPC Leads Emergency Preparedness Exercise for Cape Ann Region (June 2024) blog post!

Plan. Prepare. Practice. Assess.

MAPC Can Help Your Community With:

Plan and Prepare

Various types of emergency preparedness plans, including mass care, shelter coordination plans, emergency management and response
Continuity of operations planning
Disaster resilience planning

Practice

Emergency preparedness trainings and exercises, including tabletops and drills

Assess

Emergency plan gap analysis and review
Incident response evaluation and after-action/improvement plan reports
Hazard vulnerability assessments

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.

The COVID-19 pandemic tried 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.

Our Multi-Disciplinary Approach

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 to Support You

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 and Resources:

Our Work

Recent projects we’ve worked on include:

Developed comprehensive emergency management plans for a municipal partners
Developed local and regional mass care and shelter coordinator plans for municipal partners
Conducted mass care and shelter site set up drills
Created and facilitated local and regional mass care and shelter table top exercises
Developed an evacuation plan for a multi building housing authority
Created a Migrant Arrival Emergency Best Practice Guide for Municipalities
Created and facilitated Climate Resiliency and Emergency Preparedness workshops
Conducted gap analysis of emergency plans
Conducted and written hazard and vulnerability assessments for health and medical stakeholders
Developed regional COVID-19 vaccination partnerships
Hosted “lessons learned” sessions on the Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions
Coordinated and facilitated various exercises and trainings with after action reports and improvement plans