Mass Violence and Terrorism Recovery Planning

Project Overview

The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services (OES) had an established Operational Area (OA) Recovery Plan in place, which provided a framework for recovery efforts in various emergency scenarios. However, the existing plan did not specifically address the unique recovery challenges associated with incidents of mass violence or terrorism. Given the increasing complexity and severity of such events, the OES recognized the need to develop a targeted annex to guide recovery efforts in the aftermath of these high-impact incidents.

Understanding the Mission

The San Diego County OES sought support to create a hazard-specific annex to the existing OA Recovery Plan, which would address the unique challenges posed by mass violence or terrorism incidents. This annex, titled the Post-Terrorism/Mass Violence Recovery Annex, outlines the essential actions that OA stakeholders should take in the aftermath of catastrophic incidents, ensuring a coordinated and effective recovery process.

The Hagerty Approach

Hagerty developed the Post-Terrorism/Mass Violence Recovery Annex through a comprehensive process that included researching best practices, reviewing OA-related plans, policies, and procedures, and facilitating a series of meetings with recovery stakeholders from local, state, and federal levels, as well as public and private sector organizations.

Achieving Results

The annex effectively provides critical background information on mass violence and terrorism as it relates to recovery, addressing communication and information-sharing challenges unique to these incidents. It identifies key recovery focus areas across the recovery continuum and includes reference guides for each topic, such as reunification, family assistance, donations management, continuity of operations, restoration of health and human services, mental and behavioral health, environmental health, community outreach, cost recovery, economic recovery, and recovery monitoring. Each guide outlines primary recovery objectives, responsible agencies, systems and communication tools, operational actions, preparedness activities, and supporting materials. This annex will remain a dynamic document, updated by OES as needed to reflect evolving recovery needs and best practices.