NATCHEZ &8212; A new county emergency response plan is in the works, and all the components of the plan may be finished by the end of the year.

Civil Defense Director George Souderes said he met with Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials earlier this month to lay out the basic plan and make sure it would be in compliance with state and federal guidelines.

&8220;We literally did a template on the basic plan of the Adams County comprehensive emergency response plan,&8221; Souderes said.

The basic plan was formed from the template Souderes, his staff and MEMA officials created, he said.

&8220;That&8217;s what the state is going to recommend to all the other counties to go by if they want to,&8221; he said.

Adams County Supervisor President Darryl Grennell said the board of supervisors gave him the authority to sign off on the basic plan, and he did.

&8220;I think it&8217;s good news,&8221; Grennell said. &8220;The thing about it is, we&8217;ve got to make sure we have tabletop sessions to make sure it is well-implemented.&8221;

He said he hoped the county could have mock sessions so everything could flow smoothly in the case of a disaster.

The United Way of the Greater Miss-Lou funded a study of the county&8217;s plan this year. The company hired found the plan lacked details and was incompatible with federal and state regulations.

Grennell said he thought the study would probably serve as an excellent resource.

&8220;We can look and see what sources it has that we can incorporate into this plan,&8221; Grennell said. &8220;It will probably be beneficial once we get into it.&8221;

Souderes said he is now working on the emergency support function annex. This part of the plan will outline the roles emergency responders like law enforcement, firefighters, public works, engineering and those in charge of sheltering will play.

It will also lay out which agencies would be primary agencies and which would support them in different situations, Souderes said.

Federal guidelines require the response annex to cover 15 different aspects of emergency response. These range from transportation to public health to search and rescue.

Souderes said he plans to address two or three aspects a month until the annex is finished. That may be as early as December, he said.

In the process, he said he would distribute the new plan to those who would be involved and get feedback.

&8220;I&8217;ll ask them to go through it, to see if everything is feasible, to see what needs to be taken out or if they can do anything they couldn&8217;t do in the past,&8221; Souderes said.

The biggest change between the county&8217;s current 10-year-old plan and the new federal and state regulations was command structure, Souderes said.

The old plan had a built-in incident command system, he said. The new plan will use the National Incident Management System, or NIMS, he said.

The new system, mandated by the federal government, ensures that responders across the country will use a uniform system of command.

Adams County Emergency Management has been using the NIMS for at least two years, he said. Now, it will be in the response plan.

&8220;It&8217;s standardized, so everybody will know the setup, command structure, terminology and reason why we are doing things,&8221; Souderes said.

The new system also lays out different levels of operation for the emergency operations center, depending on what the county is facing, he said.

&8220;Back before, we just said we will staff the emergency operations center when needed during times of emergency,&8221; he said. &8220;Now, it&8217;s saying that we can either partially or fully activate the emergency operations center at certain levels.&8221;

As for the emergency support function annex, Souderes said although he hopes to have it finished by the end of the year, it was not a guarantee.

&8220;MEMA said if we do finish it by the end of the year, we&8217;ll be doing very well,&8221; he said. &8220;If I try to do two or three each month, have it reviewed by participating agencies, they&8217;ve got to take it back and read it, come back and talk about it, and I&8217;ve got to computerize it and move on.

&8220;I&8217;ll be very lucky if I get it all done by December.&8221;