Emergency Management at the Pentagon Essay

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency institutionalized Emergency Management in 1979 (Lindsay, 2012). Since then, various local and state organizations have included emergency management in their practices. It shifted from specialized preparedness to narrowly defined or single categories of hazard to an all-hazard approach including potential threats to property and life through technological and environmental dangers and local and foreign risks. The whole idea of emergency management does not include a reduction in security but an increased emphasis on making the country’s emergency management capacity responsive to any significant emergency.

From the Second World War, emergency management has mostly focused on preparedness against a potential attack (Edwards, Goodrich, & Griffith, 2016). Community preparedness for all disasters needs establishing expertise and resources beforehand, and arranging how they can be utilized in the event an accident happens. However, preparation is merely a single phase of managing emergencies. The entire process has four stages including mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Mitigation

It entails preventing or minimizing the effects of future events. Relief is attained via analyzing risks that provide information, which offers a base for usual mitigation actions (Lindsay, 2012). The Pentagon has developed risk mitigation measures to alleviate the likelihood of attacks happening and minimize the consequences. Several stakeholders have been allocated different roles regarding protecting the building from attacks. The Pentagon has identified hazards and risks and developed structural measures to minimize or eliminate the impact of an occurrence. The attacks that the Pentagon building is protected from include natural, criminal, terrorist and accidental hazards. Some of the human-made attacks include workplace violence, physical attacks and terrorist attacks (Gallagher, 2014). The natural attacks include wind-related events like severe tornados and flooding as well as winter storm events. Efficient preventive measures can disrupt the disaster destruction, restoration, and recurring damage cycle. It constructs safe societies by minimizing property damage and loss of life.

Some of the mitigation measures undertaken by the Pentagon include building codes that address risks like earthquakes, high winds, and fires. The demanding construction criterions implemented by people in the United States save the country above one billion dollars annually in prevented flood damages (Gallagher, 2014). For instance, houses build to NFIP standards incur less flood-related damages. After the 9/11 attacks, the damaged structures were rebuilt with more resilient materials. The Pentagon also acquired insurance plans to cover the building from any forms of threat. Insurance is a critical mitigation step. For instance, if floods lead to destruction, the flood insurance guards the owner’s investments and reduces the financial effect on them (Gallagher, 2014). The budgetary allocation may reach up to twenty-five percent of the institution’s expenditure.

Preparedness

The preparedness phase mostly entails developing plans for whom to call, where to go, and what to do before an event occurs and the action that will enhance a facility’s chances of handling an emergency successfully (Lindsay, 2012). Preparedness primary focus is to improve the capability to react to an occurrence by putting measures to ensure entities and personnel can respond to various incidences. Preparation entails arranging, consolidating, teaching, arming, training, assessing, and employing counteractive measures in an attempt to ascertain efficient synchronization when responding to an incident (Edwards, Goodrich, & Griffith, 2016). While mitigation focuses on averting a catastrophe from happening, preparedness concentrates on formulating procedures or paraphernalia when a threat strikes.

The Pentagon preparedness measures involve the installation of smoke detectors, holding disaster drills, installing the warning devices, and constructing shelters. It also consists of the provision of disaster preparedness kits such as candles, flashlights, medicine, and food. Other measures include identifying sheltering and assembling zones, creating the backup life-line services including sewage, water, and power, posting the emergency telephone numbers, and rehearsing the evacuation plans (Weaver, Fahey, & Cohen, 2016). Other preparedness activities taken by The Pentagon include training the personnel about emergency management, procuring resources including medical stockpiles, water, and food, conducting surveillance and intelligence activities to establish potential threats and adequate planning to enhance the emergency response plans. The preparedness depicted during the 9/11 attacks was due to hard work, outstanding leadership, extensive training, and sound organization exhibited by the team at Pentagon and Arlington County. It is during the preparedness phase that the facility emergency plan is developed.

Facility Emergency Plan (FEP) for Pentagon

Introduction

This FEP holds emergency information for the Pentagon’s dwellers (Kiefer, 2015). It establishes individuals responsible for an emergency within the facility. It also entails the procedures recommended for responding to emergencies such as threatened and hazardous material releases.

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All long-term guests, tenants, and employees of the Pentagon should be conversant with vital components of the Plan (Kiefer, 2015). Issues regarding the plan should be directed to the appropriate supervisor or the Facility Safety Coordinator. Any individual that goes through this Plan should remember:

· Exit points, evacuation routes, the place to report for roll call after clearing a building and the facility’s exit point.

· How and when to evacuate a facility and building when necessary

· Where emergency materials and supplies are located and the required stations in case of an emergency including first aid kits, pull alarms (where applicable), and fire extinguishers.

· The roles to play during an emergency including floor monitoring or roll taking during evacuation

· Possible exposure to threats around and in the work area as well as approaches that individuals may use to protect themselves in case of an emergency

Copies of the Plan are kept at the Pentagon’s Office of Environment, Health & Safety and the Maintenance Operations Office. Each worker and resident of the facility has received an electronic copy of the Plan. Every Pentagon worker and resident should espouse the Plan and familiarize with the document’s contents, where to assemble after evacuating the facility and the key players to report to after clearing the building. Each Department Safety Coordinator has a crucial role to play in training the people working at the Pentagon.

1. General Information

1.1 Facility Name: The Pentagon (Military Headquarters)

Facility Emergency Management Area Coordinator: Allan Geoffrey

Address: The Pentagon, Washington, DC 22201.

1.2 Description of the Facility

The Pentagon house houses the Department of Defense (DoD), functions as the military headquarters and is located in Arlington, Virginia in the United States (Bigler, n.d). It houses all the services in the military including Air Force, Army, and Navy. At 6.24-million-square-foot concrete structure covering thirty-four acres, it takes pride in being the most significant office structure in the whole world (Bigler, n.d). The construction of the Pentagon happened for Seventeen months and started housing the War Department a day before America entered into the Second World War. Ironically, the trailblazing ceremony for construction of the Pentagon happened on September 11, 1941(Bigler, n.d). From 1942, the Pentagon has functioned as the pivotal point of the planning and operations of the American military. Some important decisions made at the Pentagon House during the Second World War include the development of the atomic bomb and D-Day invasion of Europe. In the years that followed, the Pentagon House was used to make critical decisions regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. During the 9/11 attacks, the Pentagon was also blasted, and the structure suffered severe damages and resulted in 184 death cases (Bigler, n.d).

Given its iconic five-sided shape, the Pentagon is one of the most identifiable buildings globally and has grown to function as the representation of the American military might. It is built on a site previously known as Arlington Farms. President Franklin Roosevelt approved the Pentagon’s location to avoid obstructing the view of the United States Capitol from Arlington National Cemetery. The Pentagon is more like a city itself with more than 23,000 workforces both in civilian and military capacities (Bigler, n.d). The Pentagon House has transport facilities, 16 parking lots covering about 67 acres, 17 miles of corridors, 130 stairways, 19 escalators, many shopping and food vendors, dry cleaners, and banking facilities (Bigler, n.d). The refrigeration plant alone covers an acre and through the building runs above 100,000 miles of cables (Bigler, n.d). Although the network of staircases, elevators, escalators, and corridors are designed to speed movement, going through the Pentagon can be overwhelming. The Pentagon even developed a website to acquaint newly assigned staff with details of how to navigate the building.

1.3 Contact Information for the Facility’s Manager

Building Manager Dean Lewis

Building X

Office Room 405

Extension 1054

Phone 650-920-0732

Assistant Building Manager Jimmy Meyers

Building Y

Office 512

Extension 2053

Phone 650-087-3642

1.4 Assembly Point during an Emergency

In front of the building at the parking lot area

1.5 Selected Disaster Team

Name

Extension

Leaders for Assembly Point during an Emergency

Jamie Ludwig

1903

Sweepers

Irene Bullock

Dwayne Rodriguez

Jennifer Cadapan
….....

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