LIST OF THE MONTH: ACRONYMICAL ACROMANIACAL ACRONYMEGALY
By Ed Barna
We live in a new age, in a world where the War on Terror (9-11!) promises to go on and on, perhaps indefinitely. Under such circumstances, it is the duty of journalists to help the general public prepare for emergencies (9-11!), not just by alerting them when we move from Condition Yellow to Condition Orange or Red, but also by clarifying the new language that is facilitating the communications that are all-important for a unified response. Partly this means using certain motivational phrases and symbolic language frequently, so they become second nature (9-11!) in the way that Pearl Harbor did for the Greatest Generation. Also, more characteristic of our own era, there are organizational abbreviations—in a word, acronyms--which need to be integrated into a variety of articles so that they accomplish their goal of easing and speeding communication.
One valuable source for finding and learning acronyms relevant to Vermont is the Agency of Vermont Emergency Management website. Right at the top, there is a clickable link titled “Acronyms,” perhaps an indication of their importance as well as the fact that the term begins with the first letter of the alphabet. Here’s a sample of what you will find at http://www.dps.state.vt.us/vem/, with commonly known acronyms omitted like ARC for American Red Cross or BISHCA for the Department of Banking, Insurance, and Health Care Administration or VTANG for Vermont Air National Guard:
ARES-Amateur Radio Emergency Services
CCP-Citizens Corps Program
CERCLA-Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability
CERT-Community Emergency Response Team
CFR-Code of Federal Regulations
CHEMTREC-Chemical Transportation Emergency Center
COG-Continuity of Government Plan
COOP-Continuity of Operations Plan
EAL-Emergency Action Level
EAS-Emergency Alert System
ECL-Emergency Classification Level
EMAC-Emergency Management Assistance Compact
EMI-Emergency Management Institute
EMPG-Emergency Management Performance Grant
EMS-Emergency Medical Services
EOC-Emergency Operations Center
EOP-Emergency Operations Plan
EPZ-Emergency Planning Zone
FMA-Flood Mitigation Assistance Program
GAR-Governor’s Authorized Representative
HMGP-Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
HSU-Homeland Security Unit
IAP-Incident Action Plan
IC-Incident Commander
ICS-Incident Command System
ICT-Incident Coordination Team
IEMAC-International Emergency Management Assistance Compact
IEMG-International Emergency Management Group
IFO-Incident Field Office
JIC-Joint Information Center
LEOC-Local Emergency Operations Center
LEOP-Local Emergency Operations Plan; also referred to as the “Local Template”
LEPC-Local Emergency Planning Committee
NAS-Nuclear Alert System
NAWAS-National Warning System
NIMS-National Incident Management System
OCME-Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
ODP-Office of Domestic Preparedness
PDA-Preliminary Damage Assessment
PDD-Presidential Decision Directive
PDM-C-Pre-Disaster Mitigation Competitive Program
PIO-Public Information Officer
PPE-Personal Protective Equipment
RACES-Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services
REP-Radiological Emergency Preparedness
RERP-Radiological Emergency Response Plan
RRP-Rapid Response Plan
SCO-State Coordinating Officer
SEOC-State Emergency Operations Center
SEOP-State Emergency Operations Plan
SERC-State Emergency Response Commission
SHMC-State Hazard Mitigation Committee
SHMO-State Hazard Mitigation Officer
SRAAT-State Rapid Assessment & Assistance Team
SSF-State Support Function
VEPARDS-Vermont Emergency Planning & Response Database System
VOAD-Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters
VTHMRT-Vermont Hazardous Materials Response Team
“This site will be updated frequently,” cautions the website. Nor is it complete: for more acronyms, it advises loging onto www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/faat.shtm. This brings up the appropriately named FAAT list, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency describes as “a handy reference for the myriad of acronyms and abbreviations (so far about 4,200) used within the federal government, emergency management and the first response community.” FAAT, for instance, can stand either for “FEMA Acronyms, Abbreviations, & Terms” or “Fully Analytical Aerial Triangulation.”
Since more of these text-message-able shorthand references are being created all the time, FEMA citizens to contact FEMA with any they may have left out--so by now the FAAT list may be longer.
Since it would be impractical to attempt a comprehensive listing here, what follows will be an indicative sampling, picking one to three items from those listed under individual letters of the alphabet:
A 1) Atomic Mass
2) Ampere
3) Activity of Isotope
AA 1) Affirmative Action
2) Allocation Advice
3) Applicant Assistance
4) Approval Authority
5) Atomic Absorption
AAA 1) Agriculture Adjustment Administration
2) American Automobile Association
BAREPP Bay Area Regional Earthquake Preparedness Project
CBQRF Chemical-Biological Quick Response Force
DTAPPS Disposable Toxicological Agent Personal Protection System
ECAPS Enterprise Coordination & Approval Processing System
FANMAP FEMA Automated Network Management Program
GOALS Government On-Line Accounting Link System
HMTUSA Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act
IAFIS Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
JDISS Joint Deployable Intelligence Support System
KBRM Knowledge-Based Risk Management
LEADERS Lightweight Epidemiology Advanced Detection and Emergency Response System
MEOW Maximum Envelope of Water (or Winds)
NARSAP National Advanced Remote Sensing Applications Program
OCHAMPUS Office of Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services
PPBM Positive Passenger Baggage Match
QBO Quasi-Biennial Oscillation
RMRIWFCG Rocky Mountain Regional Interagency Wildland Fire Communications Group
SALEMDUG State and Local Emergency Managers Data Users Group
TACACS Terminal Access Controller Access Control System
USACHPPM United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine
VCU VOLAG Coordination Unit
VOLAG Voluntary Agency
WIN WWMCCS Intercomputer Network (obsolete)
XEDO Xedar Heat Detection Unit
YLD 1) Yield
2) Young Lawyers Division
Z Zulu (UTC)
UTC 1) Unit Type Code
2) Universale Temps Coordinaire (i.e., Coordinated Universal Time)
As you can see by the title of this List of the Month, I have invented my own acronym, using the letters AAA so it will get near the head of the list.
That’s all for now, folks. May all your VA’s (vulnerability assessments) and SN’s (serial numbers) be the essence of Survival Crisis Management (9-11!).
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to [email protected]
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