FST Emergency Planning 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A fire safety technician is asked to establish a 'call tree' for emergency notification. What is the PRIMARY advantage of a call tree over a single-point notification system?
- It requires less planning to implement
- It distributes the notification workload and reduces single-point-of-failure risk (Correct answer)
- It is mandated by OSHA for all facilities
- It eliminates the need for a public address system
Correct answer: It distributes the notification workload and reduces single-point-of-failure risk
A call tree distributes notification responsibilities among multiple individuals, preventing system failure if one person is unavailable during an emergency.
Question 2: Under ICS, the term 'span of control' refers to:
- The geographic area an incident commander can manage
- The number of subordinates one supervisor can effectively manage (Correct answer)
- The range of a radio communication system
- The duration of an operational period
Correct answer: The number of subordinates one supervisor can effectively manage
Span of control in ICS refers to the number of individuals or resources one supervisor can manage effectively, typically 3 to 7 with 5 being optimal.
Question 3: A 'go-kit' prepared for emergency responders at a facility typically contains all of the following EXCEPT:
- Site maps and floor plans
- Emergency contact directories
- Personal protective equipment for first responders
- Annual financial audit reports (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Annual financial audit reports
Go-kits contain operationally critical materials like maps, contacts, and PPE; financial audit reports have no emergency response utility.
Question 4: Which scenario BEST illustrates the need for a 'continuity of operations plan' (COOP) rather than just an emergency action plan?
- Evacuation of employees during a fire alarm
- Relocating critical operations to an alternate site after a building is rendered unusable (Correct answer)
- Training employees on the location of fire extinguishers
- Conducting monthly fire drills
Correct answer: Relocating critical operations to an alternate site after a building is rendered unusable
A COOP addresses maintaining or rapidly resuming critical functions at alternate locations when a facility is inaccessible, which goes beyond the immediate life safety scope of an EAP.
Question 5: When integrating with community emergency response systems, a facility emergency plan should identify the local:
- City budget for fire department operations
- Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) under the National Response Framework (Correct answer)
- Federal Emergency Management Agency regional director
- State fire marshal's annual inspection schedule
Correct answer: Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) under the National Response Framework
Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) under the National Response Framework define how federal, state, and local resources are organized and coordinated during emergencies, providing the integration framework for facility plans.
Question 6: A facility has identified that its emergency alert system cannot reach employees working in a basement mechanical room. The BEST corrective action is:
- Post a written memo in the mechanical room once a year
- Install supplemental notification devices or assign a designated floor warden for that area (Correct answer)
- Restrict employee access to the mechanical room during normal business hours
- Require mechanical room employees to check in by radio every hour
Correct answer: Install supplemental notification devices or assign a designated floor warden for that area
Supplemental notification devices or designated wardens ensure all personnel receive emergency alerts regardless of physical barriers to the primary system.
Question 7: What does the term 'operational period' mean in the context of ICS emergency planning?
- The total duration from incident start to final demobilization
- A scheduled time interval during which assigned resources execute the incident action plan (Correct answer)
- The period between tabletop exercises
- The time required to complete post-incident documentation
Correct answer: A scheduled time interval during which assigned resources execute the incident action plan
An operational period is the defined time interval — commonly 12 or 24 hours — during which an incident action plan guides all response activities before being reassessed.
FST Emergency Planning 5
A fire safety technician is asked to establish a 'call tree' for emergency notification.
What is the PRIMARY advantage of a call tree over a single-point notification system?