MITIGATION I PREPAREDNESS I RESPONSE I RECOVERY I STRATEGIC ADVICE

Shanti S. SmithProgram Director

Witt Associates GVF's Disaster Preparedness & Response Summit at CANTO

Shanti Smith, CEM, FPEM

• Background/Experience• 2005-2010 – Deputy Bureau Chief of Preparedness, Florida Division of

Emergency Management, Tech Hazards Section Chief− 13 Federally Declared Disasters

– Hurricanes, Flooding, Tornadoes, Wildfires, H1N1, Operation Haiti Relief, Operation Deep water Horizon

• 2011-2012 – Operations Chief/Homeland Security Coordinator, Collier County Department of Emergency Management− 1 Federally Declared Disaster for Wildfire, Developed and Executed 2 Full Scale Multi-

Agency Exercises− Supported through development of multi agency Incident Action Plans for

Professional and Amateur Sporting events and various community wide Special Events

Witt Associates

Witt Associates helps private and public organizations control the outcome of events by building and enhancing opportunities while preventing and mitigating risks. Simply put, we are the gold standard in public safety and crisis management. No other firm can surpass our capabilities in planning, training, rapid mobilization and on-the-ground support.

Our emergency management experts include:• Specialists with over a decade of experience in administering federal and state laws

and regulations pertaining to disaster planning, training, exercises, and prevention and mitigation programs.

• Over 120 permanent staff and 500+ experts with disaster-related experience and training for rapid mobilization and disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation support.

• Grant specialist with extensive knowledge of DHS/FEMA grant sources and deadlines, the application processes, evaluation criteria and strategies to increase grant funding.

• Second level

Do you have a Plan?

• Do you have a Business Continuity Plan?− Is it coordinated with you governments recovery plan so they can support your efforts and

vice versa

• Do you have a Plan for the re-establishment of priority services which is coordinated with your First Response agencies?− During Hurricane Katrina state government had to provide security missions to protect the

telecommunications teams as they repaired infrastructure necessary for restoration of services.

• Are you a partner in the Mitigation planning for the communities you support?− Most island nations are Cell Phone dependent, protecting the communities resources is

protecting your critical infrastructure

• Social Media; Do you have a plan to use it to support your Response and Recovery Efforts− Most people access Social Media on their cell phones, are you leveraging to your benefit?

Private Sector as the Subject Matter Expert

• How can you support your Government• Subject matter expert on all new and developing technologies and its

impacts on response agencies• Creative solutions to issues with redundancy• How can the Government harden infrastructure to protect the interests

of community and business interests

• Cooperation, Coordination, Communication• Public/Private Coordination are the key to success

− Does your company have a seat in the Emergency Operations Center?

MITIGATION I PREPAREDNESS I RESPONSE I RECOVERY I STRATEGIC ADVICE

Shanti Smith, CEM, FPEM, ICPMSouth East Regional,Program DirectorWitt Associates850-443-3896ssmith@wittassociates.comwww.wittassociates.com