State of Oregon After-Action Review for COVID-19

Challenge:

On March 8, Governor Brown declared a state of emergency in the State of Oregon to address the spread of COVID-19 with Executive Order No. 20-03. On Friday, March 13, 2020 the President declared a National Emergency, freeing up federal funding and resources to mitigate and respond to this national crisis. Given the nature and impacts of this pandemic and the need to evaluate actions and decisions made during this event the state identified the need for an after-action review.

Solution:

EM Partners was selected to conduct the after-action review for the state. The three initial focus areas were on the management and distribution of personal protective equipment, the initial response and the function of the joint information center. EM Partners built a team that not only has experience in after-action reviews but more importantly experience in logistics, pandemic response and communications. Over the course of the project we will have reached out to several hundred stakeholders, conducted over 100 interviews and reviewed several dozen documents. Putting the right people on the project to meet the needs of the client.

Benefits:

The support we are providing to the State of Oregon allows them to focus on current needs while identifying areas for improvement and implementing those improvements in real time. Best practices identified and developed through this review will allow for continued strengthening of Oregon’s enterprise response for this and future events.