Item 26 - Adoption of the City of Santa Ana Emergency Operations Plan

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City of Santa Ana Emergency Operations Plan Part I Basic Plan and hospital emergency rooms, trauma centers and surgery facilities. This may result in a mass -casualty incident requiring the utilization of mutual aid resources from many surrounding communities. There may be additional victims not injured by weapons but who are instead injured while fleeing the scene. There also may be a substantial number of survivors, witnesses, rescuers or family members who experience significant psychological trauma from the event and require mental health or counseling support, particularly if the event occurs at a school or other location with many child victims. Multiple deceased victims will require a lengthy process to recover the remains of victims from the scene or from hospital facilities, to perform autopsies, to positively identify the victims and make notifications to the next of kin, and to process the bodies for release to funeral homes. This may overwhelm the capabilities of the coroner's office, which may not be equipped to handle many traumatic deaths occurring simultaneously. Some bodies may have to be processed by coroner's offices in neighboring counties through mutual aid. This can result in a lengthy period of time and confusion before all deceased victims are identified and all family members are notified. For persons who survive the shooting but are transported to hospitals for treatment or are evacuated to other locations, there may be a lengthy period of time before their family members learn their condition and location and can be reunified with them. These delays usually cannot be avoided but greatly increase the worry, confusion and psychological trauma experienced by family members. This can also result in 911 dispatch centers, city halls, police and fire department offices, hospitals, school offices or other relevant locations being overwhelmed with desperate phone calls or in -person requests for information. The location of the violence (school, government office, business or other facility) will remain closed and out of operation for a substantial period of time. Once all victims have been transported or evacuated from the scene, any weapons or devices left behind must be rendered safe and removed. The bodies of the deceased must be documented and removed. An extensive crime scene investigation may take days to complete. Personal belongings left behind may then be collected. Extensive clean-up and repair of bullet holes, bloodstains or other evidence of the event may be required before the building can be re -occupied. This means that the building will not be able to be used for weeks or months, with a lengthy subsequent disruption to government services, education, commerce or other specific uses of the facility. In some cases, the facility will be a complete loss. This was the case with the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where 20 young children and 6 adults were killed. The decision was made that the school could not be re -opened and was completely replaced with a new school. A significant act of targeted violence will result in local, national and international news coverage at a level likely never experienced before by the jurisdiction; with 24-hour coverage; live video broadcasts; rumors and inaccurate or incomplete information; news conferences; and interviews with responders, victims, witnesses and survivors. Marches, vigils, memorials and other public expressions of grief or anger, either planned or spontaneous, may continue for weeks, and for years afterwards on anniversary dates. If the perpetrator(s) survive the event, this may result in criminal investigation, psychological evaluations, prosecution, trial and punishment efforts continuing for years into the future. This can extend the public grief, recovery process, news coverage and disruptions to the facility and community for many years. If the motivation for the shooting has a connection to a terrorist group or terrorist planning network, the scope of the investigation and prosecution, and the agencies involved in them, become national or international in scope. 87