Within established working groups, stakeholders collaborate to develop a comprehensive response and recovery framework. Such a framework should include specific plans to maximize the use of available resources to achieve remediation; manage waste; rebuild housing, infrastructure, schools, businesses and the social fabric of the impacted community; and provide mental and physical health care and social support services. Establishing processes and protocols for coordinating disaster response and recovery activities before an incident can greatly enhance the speed and success of such activities. Established plans can be implemented more quickly and are more likely to maximize resource utilization. The following sections outline critical information gathering and plan and process development activities in which chemical incident stakeholder working groups can play key leading roles.
The greater the number and diversity of agencies and stakeholders in a region, the more important it will be to identify working group participants and stakeholder champions who appropriately reflect the composition of the community and can ensure a more transparent, accountable, representative, and inclusive decision-making process. Because they incorporate varying perspectives, such plans are likely to meet community needs in a more holistic manner. In addition, community leaders can increase public confidence in the response and recovery process by following plan guidelines for measuring and communicating about response and recovery progress, further promoting transparency and accountability.