Disaster preparedness is a continuous cycle that involves planning, equipping, training, and exercising. Upon exercise completion,  focus turns to evaluation and locating areas for improvement for future plans.

Organizations can develop a wide variety of plans to include:

• Strategic plans
• Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs)
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs)
• Continuity of Operations (COOP)/business continuity
• Hazard specific plans/annexes (ex. – hurricane, pandemic)
• Functional plans/annexes (ex. – logistics, crisis communications, evacuation)
• Field Operations Guides
• Risk/vulnerability assessments
• Hazard mitigation plans
• Prevention/protection plans
• Recovery plans, etc.

Developing any of these plans can be resource intensive in terms of both time and personnel. The use of subject matter experts with knowledge of the subject matter, best practices, lessons learned, as well as the organization’s specific procedures is critical to successful planning efforts. While there are numerous guidance documents and templates that can assist in the planning process, such as FEMA’s Comprehensive Planning Guidance 101 (CPG 101), which outlines a six-step process for EOPs that is applicable to the development of most plans (see diagram below), organizations can save both time and money, by relying on ReadyZoneHQ (RZHQ) to support planning requirements.