Before the Emergency: How TEMA Is Connecting Plans, Training and Practice

By Joshua Ogunyemi, Tennessee Emergency Management Authority

When an emergency reaches your neighborhood, you want to know that the people responding know what to do and how to work together. That coordination takes work long before the call comes in. It starts with a plan, continues through training and gets tested through practice.

During a recent TEMA Talks session, our team discussed an approach to preparedness that brings planning, training and exercises into closer alignment.

Now, you may be wondering what a conversation among emergency management professionals has to do with you.

When it comes down to it, we're all emergency managers in some way. Whether you're preparing your family, workplace, congregation or community, we all have a role in getting ready for the unexpected. And the same principles that help emergency managers prepare can help you, too.

What does that mean for your community?

Think about the questions an emergency can raise. Who needs to be contacted? What resources might be needed? How will different organizations work together?

Plans help establish roles and responsibilities. Training gives people the knowledge and skills to carry them out. Exercises provide opportunities to practice, identify gaps and make improvements. The goal is to connect all three.

For TEMA, that means working more closely across our regions and with local emergency management partners to make sure planning, training and exercises support one another.

For communities, it means responders who understand their responsibilities, know their partners and have opportunities to work through challenges before an emergency puts them to the test.

Building the approach together

TEMA is working to improve how we develop plans, coordinate training and prepare for emergencies across Tennessee. That includes efforts to update our training course catalog, develop additional courses and better coordinate exercises over multiple years.

Our regional teams and local emergency management partners are important to that work. They understand the communities they serve, the hazards they face and the resources available when emergencies happen. Their experience helps inform how we prepare, where additional training may be needed and what should be tested through exercises.

Ryan Schwartz, TEMA Exercise Program Manager, emphasized the importance of connecting planning, training and clearly defined responsibilities to strengthen emergency readiness.

The same approach works for families and organizations. A written plan is a good start. But does everyone understand it? Have you practiced it? Did that practice reveal something you need to change?

Don't just have a plan. Practice it.

Sharing knowledge across Tennessee

Preparedness also depends on communication. Through TEMA Talks, we're creating opportunities to share knowledge and experience across our four regions and headquarters. That might mean discussing lessons from a recent response, sharing a partnership that's working well or helping colleagues understand changes to a process.

These conversations help us connect the dots between the work happening in different parts of the state.

You can create those same opportunities in your household, workplace, congregation or community organization. Talk with the people around you. Learn what resources are available. Build relationships with local partners before you need their help. Make time to practice together.

Prepared organizations and communities don't happen by accident. They're built through relationships, planning and practice.

Bring the same idea home

You can apply that same plan-and-practice approach with your household. Start with one question:

If we couldn't reach each other during an emergency, what would we do?

Talk through your emergency contacts, choose a meeting place and make sure everyone understands the plan. Consider who may need help with transportation, communication or medical equipment.

Then practice.

You don't have to get everything right the first time. Use what you learn to make your plan better.

Whether we're preparing across a state agency or around the kitchen table, the work starts before the emergency. Make the plan. Practice it together. Keep getting better.