1. Communicating with State Agencies
Developed with funding from the Multi-State Partnership for Security in Agriculture
This session was designed to be hosted by the Lead Agency for agriculture emergency response for state agencies that may provide support. Key attendees will be individuals from the Lead Agency for an agricultural emergency, as well as supporting agencies. Supporting agencies as well as their support roles and responsibilities should be identified in the State Emergency Operations Plan. It is important to include decision makers in the discussion since some questions will focus on the support available from non-lead agencies. The session will capture feedback on what information the supporting agencies would like to receive, and when, to enhance a collaborative and coordinated response.
Ideal group size should be no more than 30 people. This session should take three to four hours to facilitate depending on the engagement of the audience.
Because this session was designed to meet the needs of a number of states, the questions are very general to allow them to apply to many different agencies. As you prepare for this presentation, it is important to customize the session based on the state agency/agencies that may be in attendance.
This presentation was developed with funding from the Multi-State Partnership for Security in Agriculture following the response to High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI).

2. Workshop Objectives
Overview of the Multi-State Partnership for Security in Agriculture project
Review lessons learned from the HPAI outbreak
Develop or revise the state agency’s communication plan
Plan will address when and what is communicated to non-lead state agencies supporting a response
This slide provides some general objectives for the workshop. These can be adjusted and modified based on the Lead Agency’s ultimate objectives.

3. 2015 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
December June 2015
21 states impacted
211 commercial and 21 backyard premises
Depopulation of 7.5 million turkeys and 42.1 million egg- layer and pullet chickens
Cost over $950 million
This is a general overview of the HPAI response. If your state responded, it would be better to include more specific information about the response in your state and the impact. If your state didn’t respond, the above information will provide a little perspective for participants on the overall impact of the HPAI response and the duration for responding states.
Reference: HPAI Preparedness and Response Plan, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, January 11, 2016.

4. Who Responded to HPAI? United States Department of Agriculture
State Departments of Agriculture
Local Emergency Management
Industry
Others
This slide is intended to provide attendees an idea of who responded. Not all entities responded in every state. In some states with smaller outbreaks, the USDA may have been less involved. If your state responded to the outbreak, you should list all the agencies that supported your response.

5. MSPSA After Action Review Project
Lessons learned from 10 states
Interviews or reviews of written After Action Reports
Focus on state and local challenges that could be addressed through facilitated discussion
This project was initiated following the HPAI response, but the discussion and subsequent actions may be applied to a variety of future responses. This project is intended to look specifically at state and local issues that could be addressed through a facilitated discussion format. It is not primarily intended to focus on state/federal issues.

6. MSPSA After Action Review Project (cont.)
Project identified four priority topics for states
ICS structure improvements
Local communication
State communication
State contracting improvements
This workshop deals with improvements in state agency communication
This slides highlights the four areas that were selected by Partnership survey participants. This presentation addresses one of these areas.

7. Lessons Learned
Communicating with other (non- lead) state agencies prior to response is critical
Agencies were reluctant to provide support for a long period of time because they didn’t understand foreign animal disease response and the associated needs
Timeframe and reimbursement
The next series of Lesson Learned slides give a general overview of the state agency communication issues mentioned by states during the initial review of this project.
A common thread among many states was that other state agencies did not understand the severity or the length of a foreign animal disease response. Many other agencies were willing to help, but would not deploy someone for at least 14 days to a location outside the city in which they normally worked. The length of the response and the commitment of the deployment are key issues to discuss. This must be understood to allow the various state agencies to realistically provide resources that would be available to assist. States agencies also wanted a clear understanding of the method of reimbursement. During HPAI, states either received direct funding coordinated by the USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services Incident Management Team or through a cooperative agreement between the lead state agency and USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services. It is important that the documentation requirements be communicated to supporting agencies.
If your state responded to HPAI or other Foreign Animal Diseases, encourage participants to share their lessons learned regarding the topic. Comments and additions added now will aid the facilitated discussion.

8. Lessons Learned (continued)
Agencies needed detailed job descriptions to determine if they had qualified individuals
Support agencies were not engaged early in the response
Several states indicated they should have engaged other agencies earlier in the response
Support agencies wanted detailed descriptions for the jobs that their staff would fill, including the knowledge, skills and other requirements to successfully fulfill the position. Many of the lead state agencies did not have the staff to develop these requirements during the response.
While some states did engage certain agencies early on, others did not notify other agencies until well into the response. This lag in notification time became a challenge in getting sufficient buy-in from those agencies to supply support to the response.

9. Lessons Learned (continued)
Help may not have been needed immediately; however, early engagement would have:
Provided time for support agencies to prepare to assist
Allowed support personnel to engage in JIT, or otherwise prepare
Allowed support agencies time to meet internal requirements for resource sharing
There would have been advantages to engaging support agencies earlier. Early engagement may have prompted more preparation, such as Just-In-Time (JIT) training.

10. Lessons Learned (continued)
Briefings did not adequately address support agencies’ questions
Supporting agencies often had to request additional information following briefing
Most states did not have a clear outline of what information needed to be included in a support agency briefing. This included the initial briefing as well as subsequent briefings throughout the response. The lack of thoroughness resulted in extra time spent by the lead agency answering follow-up questions. Several states recommended developing a list of questions that will assist responders during the emergency to prepare a thorough brief. A list of questions could assist responders in preparing an appropriate and thorough brief. One of the objectives for this workshop is to identify critical information needs.

11. Lessons Learned (continued)
Some states were concerned about sharing specifics, including actual farm locations, with supporting agencies
Several states have legal requirements to keep information confidential
Lack of information sharing provided a challenge in engaging support agencies in the response
Some states mentioned that they have strict confidentiality laws that prohibit them from sharing the name of the infected premise with other agencies. This presents a challenge when the lead agency is requesting support but cannot disclose specifics about the response. This is an issue that states need to address prior to an emergency. In some situations, states were asking for modifications to regulations exempting emergency response situations from the confidentiality laws. In other cases, they are developing standard operating procedures and confidentiality statements to address the issue.

12. Best Management Practices
Develop guidelines for communicating with supporting agencies
Address legal requirements surrounding emergency response information prior to the event
A few suggestions were provided by some of the responding states interviewed. These are included in the best management practices.
Legal requirements concerning confidentiality of information is also an issue to be addressed in the presentation in this series, titled Communicating with Local Jurisdictions.

13. Best Management Practices (continued)
Determine information to include in support agency briefings, prior to a response
Several states developed a list of questions that provided guidance on what information needs to be included in support agency briefings
Questions helped in developing briefings
Questions assisted in consistency between briefings
A few suggestions were provided from some of the responding states interviewed. These are included in the best management practices.

14. Sharing Information
This section of the presentation will allow the development of guidance on general information-sharing process and policies, related to supporting state agencies.
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask to explore how these challenges may be overcome. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

15. Notifying Support Agencies
What is the trigger for the Lead Agency to notify support agencies?
Is it affected by activating the State Emergency Operations Center?
Does this timing meet the needs of the support agencies?
How is this impacted by the particular disease?
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask to explore how these challenges may be overcome. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

16. Notifying Support Agencies (continued)
What is the best method to brief the support agencies?
How is the initial notification delivery method different than delivery methods throughout the response?
What information should be included in the initial notifications?
What information should be included in the initial notification? The group should be asked to develop a list of questions that should be answered in the notification. These questions will assist the responsible individual at the Lead Agency in putting together the notification.
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask to explore how these challenges may be overcome. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

17. Notifying Support Agencies (continued)
How does support agency information change during the response, once the support agencies are engaged in providing support?
What ICS position or Lead Agency personnel are responsible for making the initial notification and subsequent briefings?
To whom is the information delivered?
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask to explore how these challenges may be overcome. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

18. Notifying Support Agencies (continued)
Do different support agencies require different delivery methods?
How could a Multi-Agency Coordination (MAC) Group support information sharing?
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask to explore how these challenges may be overcome. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency. .

19. Critical Information Requirements
What are the critical information requirements for support agencies throughout the response?
What are the baseline critical information needs, applicable to all support agencies?
What are the agency-specific critical information needs, by agency?
How are these critical information needs dependent on the disease?
The first question should require a lengthy discussion. Participants should be asked to develop a list of questions that should be answered in each briefing and/or update. These items should be recorded on a flip chart.
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask to explore how these challenges may be overcome. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

20. Critical Information Requirements (cont.)
What is the best way to share the information with support agencies throughout the response? How does this vary among different agencies?
How frequently should information be shared?
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask to explore how these challenges may be overcome. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

21. Critical Information Requirements (cont.)
Who is responsible for sharing information?
What critical information would your agency request from supporting agencies, both prior to requesting support and once support is provided?
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask to explore how these challenges may be overcome. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

22. Incorporating Support Agencies in the ICS Structure
This next section (slides 22-27) will examine the need and process for incorporating support agencies in the response ICS structure.

23. Lead Agency ICS Structure
Insert a picture of the Lead Agency ICS Structure
On this slide, the facilitator should briefly walk through the ICS structure utilized by the Lead Agency. An image of the organizational chart may be helpful. The slides that follow include questions on how the support agencies may or may not be incorporated into this structure.

24. Incorporating Support Agencies
What support can each support agency provide?
How does the Lead Agency request this support?
Does their support depend on a State Emergency Declaration?
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

25. Incorporating Support Agencies (continued)
Can the agencies provide support in the Lead Agency’s ICS Structure?
Which positions can be filled by the support agency?
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.

26. Incorporating Support Agencies (continued)
For what period of time can a support agency provide assistance?
How can a MAC be used to inform support agencies and where would it link with your ICS structure?
The next series of slides give examples of questions that the facilitator should ask. There may be questions to change, add or delete. The facilitator should make whatever changes are necessary to meet the needs of the agency.
When discussing the first question, it is important to stress that a foreign animal disease response is an extended response. Most personnel will be on a day rotation during the event. It will be important for the support agency to understand the length of commitment required – for individual personnel as well as for the response – and to consider this when determining what resources may or may not be available.

27. Incorporating Support Agencies (continued)
Which agencies, including the Lead Agency, are able to support the response with needed Just-In- Time training?
Just-in-Time training on Incident Command System, cleaning and disinfection, livestock handling, biosecurity, etc., may be needed for personnel from supporting agencies. Is it possible that this training may be provided by both lead and/or supporting agencies to increase the number of trained and available personnel?

28. Additional Discussion
This presentation is intended to facilitate a discussion to improve communication and engagement across state agencies in response to an animal disease emergency.
It is recommended to assign tasks designed to improve this communication through collaboration of the lead and supporting agencies and organizations.