"Preparedness involves establishing authorities and responsibilities for emergency actions and garnering the resources to support them: a jurisdiction must assign or recruit staff for emergency management duties and designate or procure facilities, equipment, and other resources for carrying out assigned duties. This investment in emergency management requires upkeep: the staff must receive training and the facilities and equipment must be maintained in working order. To ensure that the jurisdiction's investment in emergency management personnel and resources can be relied upon when needed, there must be a program of tests, drills, and exercises. Consideration also must be given to reducing or eliminating the vulnerability of the jurisdiction's emergency response organizations and resources to the hazards that threaten the jurisdiction. Accordingly, preparedness measures should not be improvised or handled on an ad hoc basis. A key element of preparedness is the development of plans that link the many aspects of a jurisdiction's commitment to emergency management". (FEMA, Guide for All-Hazard Emergency Operations Planning (SLG 101), 1996, pp. 1-3 and 1- 4)