The officials are all taking part in a course called Leading Through Crisis. It was designed by Cook County’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) in partnership with the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy (Chicago Harris). The goal is to equip officials from Cook County’s 134 municipalities and 30 townships with the skills they would need to prepare for, work through and recover from any kind of catastrophe in their community.
“We are in the second largest county in the country, and we’re vulnerable to a variety of hazards from flooding, severe snowstorms and tornadoes, to terrorist attacks,” said Michael Masters, executive director of the DHSEM. “It is our department’s mission to do all we can to prepare ourselves and our community to effectively deal with these challenges.”
Masters said Leading Through Crisis evolved out of a recognition that there is a significant gap in practical and accessible crisis management training for local elected and appointed officials. The four-hour workshop provides crisis leadership skills and strategies, taking participants through a variety of modules that cover how to successfully plan for, respond to and recover from both man-made and natural disasters.
Leading Through Crisis was designed with input from some of the nation’s leading experts in crisis management and senior government as well as law enforcement and local officials who experienced firsthand catastrophic events such as Superstorm Sandy and the Boston Marathon bombings. Many of those officials are featured in video clips throughout the course. The workshop is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and endorsed by the National Association of Counties.
The workshop is aimed at senior county and local government officials such as mayors, village managers and administrators, public health officials and emergency managers. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle stressed the importance of their participation: “Elected and appointed public officials have a special responsibility to our residents. By choosing to be public servants, we have agreed to serve the best interest of our constituents. It is critical that we are able to effectively lead through a crisis. That's why this training program for local government officials is so vital.”
The course moderator guided participants through modules that covered every stage of incident preparedness and response. The group covered the fundamentals of preparedness and crisis leadership, working through challenges faced by senior officials during catastrophic incidents and optional solutions. The course stresses the importance of community engagement and relationship building with faith-based and non-governmental stakeholders. Participants then focused on effective methods for prioritization and crisis decision-making strategies.
The vital role of preparedness planning in the effective management of a major incident and the responsibility that officials have for the planning process was emphasized throughout the course. Participants watched a video clip of Sea Bright, N.J., Mayor Dina Long: “I wish that we had done some kind of analysis before the storm with regard to projected costs and what some of the recovery activities and professional services would be needed. We didn’t do any of that and so we’re dealing with that after the fact on an ad-hoc basis. We could have been more prepared.”
Long gave a specific example of just how critical planning is for every detail of the recovery process. “One of the things I want to say to any small town mayor is that a disaster could strike at any time and it’s so important for mayors particularly that they have inventoried all their town’s assets. I learned through my experience in Sea Bright that even something like having a manhole cover over a sewer is an asset that should be documented because we were called on to prove that our sewers had manhole covers on them.”
The course also stressed the need for municipalities to prepare for the financial strain of a major crisis. And for that lesson, participants turned to a video clip of Col. Timothy Alben, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, discussing the costs associated with the hunt for the Boston Marathon bombers. “Whether you want to or not, [you are going to] expend large amounts of money from your local community initially at least to pay for some of these logistical expenses, overtime costs for police, fire, EMS, maybe medical costs to some extent, sheltering costs,” said Alben.
The workshop explored the importance of effective communication before, during and after a crisis with a special focus on the new role of social media and how technology can be used to the mutual benefit of residents and the response-recovery operation.
The class also discussed jurisdictional capabilities and focused on resources the DHSEM can make available to Cook County municipalities during an emergency and also how local municipalities can work with one another to effectively manage their resources.
At the end of the workshop, each participant received a Leader’s Playbook. The playbook is designed to serve as a guide through any disaster the leaders may encounter, incorporating all of the information learned in the workshop into easy-to-use checklists and step-by-step instructions on issues ranging from economic planning to social networking.
Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive. “This training took me to the next level and although I am very well versed with FEMA’s ICS courses, this workshop gave me greater insight into the components of a crisis I would need to deal with behind the scenes,” said Richard Shore, chief of the Burbank Police Department.
Workshop participants also received a certificate of completion from the DHSEM and Chicago Harris.
“When Cook County proposed the idea of partnering with us on a crisis leadership training program, we jumped at the opportunity,” said Chicago Harris Dean Daniel Diermeier, who credits Chicago Harris distinguished senior fellow and former mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, with recognizing the importance of the program. “I am delighted with the program’s success so far and am particularly pleased that our students were able to participate, learning alongside local government officials. Leading Through Crisis is one more example of how Chicago Harris is working with partners to lead the way on training current and future urban policy leaders on the most pressing issues of our time."
So far, the DHSEM has offered Leading Through Crisis to local leaders seven times throughout the county, and Masters hopes every elected and appointed official takes advantage of the opportunity to take the course. But he doesn’t want the learning to end at the county’s borders. “Effective leadership during a crisis can mean the difference between life and death and can be the critical component in a timely response to or recovery from a disaster. Disasters do not discriminate between small towns and big cities, and disasters certainly do not respect geographic borders. A crisis can strike any community and that is why every leader can benefit from taking the Leading Through Crisis course.”
Natalia Derevyanny serves as the deputy director of communications for the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
