National Preparedness Services

Continuity of Operations

MSA plays a very active role within the Federal Government’s emergency planning strategy by providing planning and program development/management for Occupant Emergency Organizations, Continuity of Operations (COOP), Pandemic events, and Disaster Response elements.

We currently provide, or have provided support to the following Federal agencies in all aspects of COOP Program development and/or Emergency Response Operations and Management:

Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals
Department of Agriculture
Army National Guard Bureau Readiness Center

Support for each of these agencies focuses on providing practical, experienced-based guidance for the development of their COOP/Emergency Planning Programs. In order for these programs to be viable, they must be developed and managed from an all-hazards approach and they must integrate all federally mandated requirements and industry best practices.

Ultimately, each program is inherently unique and must be customized to ensure continuation of the agency’s essential functions. MSA has an established team of industry certified Business Continuity Professionals, with more than 125 years of collective experience in the National Preparedness industry, ready to assist Federal, State and Local government agencies, as well as commercial businesses, with their readiness needs.

MSA’s specific skills and functional expertise include:

Strategic

Federal Continuity Directive compliance at the program and planning levels
Assessment of Primary Mission Essential Functions and Mission Essential Functions
Development and vetting of COOP multi-year program strategies
Integration of other contingency efforts, such as pandemic planning

Tactical

Development of COOP plans, delegations of authority, lines of succession and other program support documents
Vital records program development
Business Function Analyses, Business Impact Analyses, and Business Process Analyses
Assessment of HQ and regional COOP documentation
Alternate operating facilities assessment and identification of candidate facilities
Development of business contingency plans
Development and maintenance of personnel rosters, test, alert and notification procedures and other COOP program elements
Development of devolution and reconstitution plans
Interoperable communications assessment, evaluation, and development

Training

Design resource intranet site for COOP personnel
COOP training for senior leadership and essential personnel
Disaster preparedness/COOP awareness events and training for the general workforce
COOP Program Training for Regional/field office personnel
COOP Awareness program
Development of Test, Training and Exercise Program

Exercises