EPA’s Response to National Emergencies: The Crisis Response Support Group, the ECOT, and Community Involvement–How They All Fit Together
Presented by: Virginia Coffey, Natalie Koch and Jan Shubert, U.S. EPA Office of Emergency and Remedial Response; Ken Clark, U.S. EPA Region 6; and Ginny Narsete, U.S. EPA Region 5

When a Community Involvement Coordinator (CIC) is notified that a terrorism attack or other major disaster has just occurred, the immediate question is “What can I do?” But CICs do not work in a vacuum. One of the most important lessons learned from the Agency’s responses to emergencies is the importance of having teams of trained professionals available to respond to the incident and work with state and local leaders and citizens to maximize collaboration and minimize the kinds of confrontation that can occur so easily in emergency situations.
For these reasons, the U.S. EPA’s Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) is developing a Crisis Response Support Group (CRSG) to provide key emergency response support to supplement EPA’s regions affected by major emergencies or disasters. Through the CRSG, EPA employees trained to provide key services will be able to offer support to a Region’s emergency response efforts in the event of major disasters or incidents. The CRSG will consist of trained employees from across the 10 Regions, Headquarters, and the Environmental Response Team (ERT). The CRSG will have four components or teams representing the resource areas most likely to require support by any Region managing or participating in a crisis response effort. These teams are: Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT); Contracts and Administrative Support Team (CAST); Emergency Communication and Outreach Team (ECOT); and Critical Incident Stress Management Team (CISMT). Representatives of the CRSG teams will describe the roles of each team and help CICs understand their roles in working with the CRSG and their responsibilities in helping EPA implement the Homeland Security Threat Advisory System. Handouts adaptable for use in various communities will be provided.