[Nicholas Garito]

Nicholas Garito

If the department fails to be comprehensive, detailed, and accurate in the type and extent of documentation, portions of the claim and possibly the entire claim will be disallowed, and the department will be required to absorb the costs. FEMA has strict eligibility requirements for reimbursement. The item of work must be required as a result of the disaster event, be located within designated disaster area, and be the legal responsibility of the eligible applicant. Meticulous documentation is imperative because each activity is eligible for a specific amount of reimbursement. A good strategy for an emergency response agency to ensure they meet the documentation requirements for reimbursement would be to implement strict documentation protocols by establishing dedicated, disaster-specific accounting codes, and utilizing comprehensive tracking tools for labor, equipment, and materials.

[Nicholas Garito]

Nicholas Garito

Very good responses to the questions Kyle. FEMA is strict and require detailed and verifiable proof of costs. Without proper documentation portions of the claim and possibly the entire claim will be disallowed, and the department will be required to absorb the costs. I agree in your statement that early coordination with emergency management, strict adherence to documentation protocols, and continuous reinforcement through exercises and after-action reviews would be ideal for an agency in order to receive proper reimbursement.

[Nicholas Garito]

Nicholas Garito

The efficient deployment of resources in a timely fashion is critical to the success of SERP. The time frames for deployment include standard deployment, rapid deployment and scheduled deployment. Standard deployment is deployment of resources within 3 hours of the mission assignment. This is the time frame used unless otherwise noted. Rapid deployment is deployment of resources within 1 hour of mission assignment. Pre identified resources will fill these requests when possible. Scheduled deployment of resources can be scheduled in advance and would have in excess of 3 hours to deploy. Varying deployment time frames are important because not all disasters are the same and all require different responses and resources.

[Nicholas Garito]

Nicholas Garito

Very good understanding of the topic Kyle. It is important to understand the different deployment time frames and when each one is appropriate. All incidents and disasters differ and emergency response should be tailored to ensure proper deployment of appropriate resources. In addition, the deployment time frame will promote responder safety.

[Nicholas Garito]

Nicholas Garito

The Statewide Emergency Response Plan (SERP) was created by the Florida Fire Chief’s Association (FFCA) to provide systematic mobilization, deployment, organization, and management of emergency resources to support local agencies during disasters. The creation of (SERP) by the (FFCA) was important because no local entity has all of the resources to handle a major disaster on their own. (SERP) embraces an all hazards approach to the effective management of emergency response personnel during the incipient stage of any major incident and throughout its extended operations. Following this plan coordinates the use of statewide resources in the most efficient way and will ultimately reduce the loss of life.