Successful management of a disaster begins at the local level. When a community is prepared to deal with a disaster, the impact can be minimized and lives may be saved. One key to community preparedness is a community emergency plan that defines how the community will manage disasters. The plan should include local, regional, and state resources that support local response.

The SCERP is a new and exciting approach to emergency management for small communities. The SCERP is a customized flipbook with essential, community-specific information for responding to the first 72 hours of a disaster. For additional information or questions please contact David Lee, the DHS&EM SCERP Coordinator at (907) 428-7033, (907) 428-7000, or scerp.coordinator@alaska.gov. 

The planning, development, and updating steps of your SCERP are important but a plan can be ineffective if it isn't applied in training with stakeholders and community members. The DHS&EM Exercise section can design a community-specific table-top exercise for your community to apply response plans. Please forward questions or requests to the exercise team at (907) 428-7121, thomas.riley@alaska.gov. Other ways to train are at community events, SCERP rehearsals during safety day, community fishing trips, etc. 

• 2024 SCERP Factsheet 

Requests for information and questions can also be directed to the DHS&EM SCERP Coordinator or the All-Hazards Resilience Team via e-mail at All-Hazards Resilience Team.

1. Establish a community SCREP Planning Team 

2. Download the standard toolkit at https://ready.alaska.gov/Plans/SCERP

    a.       The provided toolkit is for all communities that are eligible to participate in the SCERP Program.

             i.     Communities with or without legal governing bodies

             ii.    Communities that have a population of 2,000 or less

3. Complete the toolkit with the community SCERP Planning Team; stakeholders to include are,

    a.       Area administration, city/tribal council, law enforcement, fire/medical, school administration, utility officials, communications,                     interested community members (elders & youth), clinic aides, VPSOs, TPOs, VPOs, etc.

4. Email the completed toolkit to the All-Hazards Resilience Team at scerp.coordinator@alaska.gov or mvaresilience@alaska.gov.

5. DHS&EM will provide 7 copies to the community free of charge. Borough emergency managers or the equivalent can request a digital copy.

6. Reconvene the planning team and utilize the community SCERP during a table-top exercise (TTX)

    a.      Contact the DHS&EM Exercise section to request a TTX specific to your community.

    b.      Please forward questions or requests to the exercise team at thomas.riley@alaska.gov.

7. Work with DHS&EM to make revisions based on lessons learned during the exercise

8. Identify personnel, plan changes, and update the SCERP annually; inform the SCERP coordinator of updates. Some examples are,

     a.     New Infrastructure 

     b.     Changes due to turnover rate 

    c.     Retirement

    d.     Promotion

9. Conduct SCERP triennial (every three years) reviews

Planning team:

Plan Development - The first and important step is establishing your SCERP Planning team. The planning team communicates the most with the SCERP Coordinator via phone, emails, and even virtually where the coordinator can facilitate a toolkit/SCERP review, answer questions, and addresses concerns. Follow the link below for more information on how to establish your community planning team.

• Community Planning Team Guide

Plan Update: The planning team must inform the SCERP coordinator of any administrative or community infrastructure changes annually or sooner if necessary. The planning team and SCERP coordinator conduct a triennial review of the community SCERP and a new plan is printed and mailed after triennial reviews.

Incident Command System (ICS) Roles:

Filling the ICS roles can be a challenge for many although very crucial. In some cases, a community may have a high turnover rate; we encourage leadership to have alternate personnel as backup and to delegate authority. DHS&EM encourages all personnel to take FEMA-approved online training; the SCERP coordinator will provide instructions to the planning team and anyone interested in getting exposure to the ICS. Please forward questions or requests to the Training section team at (907) 428-7605; jeffrey.mckenzie@alaska.gov. Follow the link below to learn how to fill your SCERP ICS roles.

• ICS Roles Guide

• 2025 SCERP Toolkit as a Word document
• 2025 SCERP Toolkit as a PDF document

The visible red flipbook design enables the user to quickly access it in the event of emergencies and disasters. It must remain at its prescribed locations within the community. It is important to return it to these locations after training or each use. Follow the link below to see a SCERP example,

• SCERP Example

Emergency response, community resilience, and preparedness are important in Alaska's vast regions. Community members are likely to hear about the importance of having a community SCERP from various partners and professionals. Partner's who advocate may include, but are not limited to, 

1. Your borough, Regional Non-Profit Corporation Emergency Manager, or the equivalent.

Current active partners:

• North Slope Borough
• Tanana Chiefs Conference
• Northwest Arctic Borough
• Kawerak, Inc.
• Norton Sound Health Corporation
• Copper River Native Association 
• Bristol Bay Native Association 
  • Bristol Engineering Services Company (BESC), LLC.
• Lake and Peninsula Borough 
• Kodiak Area Native Association
• Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association
• Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska 

2. Department of Public Safety - AST, VPSOs, TPOs, and Fire Professionals

3. The Defenders of Wildlife | Alaska 

4. Department of Environmental Conservation - Spill response teams

5. Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities 

6. American Red Cross of Alaska - Evacuation and shelter specialists

7. Department of Health - Public Health Nurses, clinic and hospital aides, etc. 

8. National Weather Services - Anchorage Forecast Office 

9. Alaska Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management - SEOC, Operations, and Planning sections staff