The Regional Logistics CONOPS Playbook is a strategic-level, all-hazards framework designed to help guide a coordinated regional logistics response to a catastrophic incident. The playbook establishes a universal logistics standard for conducting emergency logistics preparedness, response, and recovery operations that can be adopted throughout the region and exported beyond its borders. It also serves as a common point of reference for any emergency response official from within or outside the region who supports logistics operations.

The Receiving and Distribution Center (RDC) Field Operations Guide will serve to support managers tasked to open, operate, and close a staging area to support the distribution of life-sustaining commodities and the deployment of emergency response resources. Best practices from regional partners, national partners, and the private sector will be reviewed. Then, detailed work processes, procedures, staffing guidelines, and job action sheets will be developed that will provide jurisdictions with the information required to execute staging area operations.

The Commodity Point of Distribution (C-POD) Field Operations Guide will provide documentation for managers tasked to open, operate, and close a commodity distribution point following a disaster. It will outline the procedures for managing the public distribution of food, water, and other critical supplies such as ice and baby formula. It will also include form templates for the control, monitoring, and reporting of distribution point activities.

The Logistics Center (LC) Manual will outline the procedures for the activation and operation of a local-level logistics center. Because these centers will manage all incident logistics in support of operations and recovery, the LC Manual will also provide strategic direction to the logistics components in each jurisdiction. The manual will be written to support a cross-functional logistics center staff consisting of federal, state, and local logistics professionals, procurement officers, vendors, and transportation staff.

The Credentialing Annex provides an overview of regional credentialing practices with the intention of facilitating the movement of key personnel across jurisdictional boundaries during a catastrophic incident. The annex establishes a common understanding of the terms, definitions, and protocols related to the practice of credentialing and provide information for regional partners to effectively plan these operations in their jurisdiction. It also provides an overview of the regional mutual aid agreements in place within the region that allow for the transfer of credentialed personnel, including the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, the Interstate Civil Defense and Disaster Compact, and certain Intrastate Mutual Aid Protocols.

Volunteer and Donations Management (VDM) will define the protocol for managing donated goods during a disaster for both local jurisdictions and state partners. Guidance contained in the annex will support effective volunteer management and prevent unsolicited items from hindering response efforts. The annex will also support the integration of existing software such as Aid Matrix to further facilitate effective organization and distribution of donated goods and services.

Area Logistics Emergency Response Teams (ALERT) will be a group of trained logisticians who are able to support logistics operations throughout the region during a catastrophic incident. Regional Logistics Program planners will identify potential ALERT team members, establish notification/deployment protocols, define procedures and functions, and develop regional training curricula. An ALERT Field Operations Guide will serve as the source document for ALERT team members who may work in a Logistics Center, Logistics Staging Area, and/or Commodity Distribution Point within the region. After training, ALERT team members will be prepared to support logistics operations within their jurisdiction and the region.

Training will be developed for all plans outline in the plans section, above. All training will be modular to allow for greater flexibility for the emergency manager. Training will be classroom based, computer based, or a combination of both.

The goal of the Regional Resource Management Solution (RRMS) initiative is to define a regional path forward for development and implementation of a technology support infrastructure that facilitates transparency and interoperability during emergency response resource acquisition. Robust research on resource management practices and state-of-the-art technologies allows for progress toward a unified regional architecture, while leveraging the strengths of each jurisdiction's existing system. The program revolves around four distinct tasks:

1. Development of an inclusive, comprehensive, and NIMS-compliant resource-typing strategy
2. Consolidation of information on the region's resource database initiatives (Regional Asset Database Project [RADP])
3. Research into interoperability and compatibility initiatives that can streamline the resource request process and build capacity for information sharing between all levels of government
4. Identification of opportunities to enhance visibility of field-deployed resources

Regional Asset Database Project (RADP) is designed to support the development of a catalog of critical resources that can be used to support catastrophic incident response. The goal of the project is to help jurisdictions to collect and maintain common data about their resources.

The Regional Logistics Program website (emergencylogistics.org) builds substantial information-sharing capacity for the emergency logistics technical field and emergency management community, creating a forum for professionals to exchange lessons learned, best practices, and current challenges. It allows users to share plans and other documentation created within the Regional Logistics Program. The website may also be used as a learning portal, where training for programs such as ALERT might be facilitated.

On May 9-10 the Regional Logistics Program held our inaugural Disaster Logistics Conference, LogCon 2011: A Universal Approach to Disaster Logistics Emergency managers and logisticians from around the NY-NJ-CT-PA Region and beyond gathered in Mahwah, NJ , to discuss some of the biggest challenges in disaster logistics today. LogCon offered a forum for professionals to exchange lessons learned, best practices, and current challenges and build relationships that can be maximized during a catastrophic incident, offering cutting-edge solutions for successful execution of catastrophic logistics planning.