08-09-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ramsey County │ Annex H: Mass Care and Shelter 3 awareness briefings, preparedness training, and public education campaigns so that stakeholders are familiar with what is expected of them during mass care and sheltering efforts. Whole Community partners will also be engaged in planning efforts and other aspects of preparedness. • The pre-disaster activities will include regular exercises that evaluate the County’s and/or the municipality’s ability to integrate stakeholder resources into a response with a focus on improving plans and planning efforts to increase operational effectiveness, cultural competence in service delivery, and eliminate redundancies in sheltering, feeding, and reunification efforts. • A regular cycle of capability assessments, training, exercise and plan development and updates will be conducted to assure cultural competence (including cultural, social, and behavioral factors) in the MCS services to respond equitably, specifically, and sensitively to the County’s diverse populations and various cultural groups potentially affected by a disaster. • MCS services may be required with little notice and require some immediacy in an emergency or disaster situation. Individuals may spontaneously evacuate before an official recommendation is made to do so. • A detailed and credible common operating picture may not be achieved for at least 24 to 48 hours after the incident. As a result, response activities begin without the benefit of detailed and complete situational or critical needs assessments and will be conducted based on the best information available at the time. • First responders, providers of relief services, and other critical response personnel may be personally affected by the incident and may be unable to report to their posts for hours or days. First responders who are on duty may be held over for additional shift coverage. • MCS services may be needed by visitors and other non-residents. • MCS services in the county could be used by impacted populations from other jurisdictions. These individuals will be supported through the Mass Care Branch. • MCS services may be needed to support responders and other workers who come to the county to support disaster response and recovery efforts. These individuals will be supported through the Logistics Section. • MCS services may need to be delivered in non-traditional settings and creative ways. • In many cases, temporary evacuation points (TEPs), as opposed to shelters, will be sufficient. TEPs may provide information and canteen services but do not provide overnight accommodation, thus requiring significantly less staffing and resources. • During evacuations, a small portion of impacted populations will seek government-provided shelter. Most individuals will stay with friends or family or will secure other housing on their own. The percentage of individuals who seek government assistance is likely to increase as the size of the evacuation increases since alternative options will become less available. It is also likely to increase as the duration of an evacuation grows and is typically higher in winter when fewer alternate housing options are available.