From the Office of the Sheriff Sheriff Dennis L. Dotson

For Immediate Release

NEWS RELEASE

Date: Mar 17, 2010

Summary:

Lincoln County has initiated a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) project to assist all County Departments and Offices, Cities, and Fire Districts with plan development and ongoing plan maintenance. This project was funded by a regional Homeland Security Grant received by Benton County, Oregon.

COOP is defined by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) as an internal effort within individual components of a government to ensure the capability exists to continue essential component functions across a wide range of potential emergencies, including localized acts of nature, accidents, and technological or attack-related emergencies.

In order to support the strategic goals for operational continuity, organizations across the country are adopting COOP planning as a high priority. A COOP program is being developed by Lincoln County to ensure the ability to recover and provide vital services to citizens following a major disruption.

COOP is a basic building block of any emergency planning program. It also has applicability well beyond large-scale disaster events. There are many potential situations when a COOP plan will be activated without a true emergency or disaster. These include, but are not limited to:

• Pandemic Flu and other issues that result in work force reduction.
• Data center issues that impact the availability of IT system.
• Plumbing issues that cause water damage to facilities or issues that disable water supply to a facility.
• Moving offices to a new location.
• Small fires in buildings that cause damage and smoke-related issues.
• IT issues that impact critical systems.
• Major disasters that disrupt operations.

Bold Planning Solutions was selected by the region’s request for proposal evaluation committee to assist with the development of COOP plans. Bold Planning is a nationally recognized consultant on COOP plans and has performed work for Clackamas County, among others. Bold Planning utilizes an online COOP planning tool to simplify the process and provide a detailed plan.

Lincoln County began the COOP plan process with two local kick-off training meetings on March 10 and 11, 2010 with Bold Planning Solutions. The process is scheduled to take around six months to complete.

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