The basic plan of a jurisdiction (item (1) in figures 1 and 2) is the
foundation of this planning process. It is an essential administrative
(rather than operational) document, and as such it:

» Provides the basis (including legal authority) for and
the objectives of emergency planning and operations

» Outlines contingencies (emergency situations) to be
planned and prepared for and establishes the general
principles and policies (concepts of operations) to be
applied to each

» Describes the emergency organization in terms of who is
responsible for what actions

» Defines interjurisdictional and interservice
relationships and the direction and control structure to
make assignments and resolve conflicts

» Contains or refers to information of common interest
about supporting facilities, such as the Emergency
Operations Center and warning and communications systems

» Provides the planning basis for other supporting
documents which are more operationally oriented

The basic plan is supported by a Direction and Control annex and by
functional annexes (see (2) and (3) respectively in figures 1 and 2).
The Direction and Control annex details how overall responses to an
emergency will be managed and coordinated. Functional annexes (for