In the aftermath of a disaster, emergency responders regularly rely on mutual aid support from neighboring towns to help response and to cover the area while recovery efforts continue, which can take days or longer. It is important to have such plans already in place. Scrambling for regional assistance at the last minute takes time out from important life-saving measures.

In its research on improving mutual aid partnerships, the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate developed an application to help jurisdictions create better mutual aid plans. The Mutual Aid Resource Planner (MARP) allows planners to develop capability-based mutual aid plans using a cloud-based platform, enabling rapid deployment and streamlining information sharing.

The MARP:

• Allows users to share plans and resource needs with partners.
• Helps align planners with operations staff.
• Provides a simplified planning template.

This application has gone through testing and is now operational and available. Access to MARP requires a membership to the National Information Sharing Consortium (NISC). NISC membership is at the organizational level, and multiple people can be covered under the membership. Download the membership application.

Released by the U.S. Fire Administration. Click here for source.