At first glance, it may seem like the DOC just takes care of itself when facing any sort of emergency.
Yet, in reality, the DOC plays a key role in emergency management for Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth.
DOC Captain Mark Hacherl, critical incident manager coordinator, is the agency's lead representative to the Pennsylvania Management Agency (PEMA), and he recently explained how the DOC's preparation and emergency protocols goes a lot further than simply fire drills.
Along with all state agencies, the DOC has a station at PEMA's command center in Harrisburg. Depending on the scale of emergency—ranging from blizzards to fires to flooding to terrorism—Hacherl will work at the station and help make decisions based on the DOC's resources in support of the Commonwealth Emergency team.
The DOC essentially operates 25 mini-cities, Hacherl said, and in times of crisis the DOC has valuable resources that are needed outside the walls.
"Psychological services are huge," Hacherl said. "Meals and water provided from SCIs. Medical services. We can't shelter people inside, obviously, but maybe in DOC buildings outside the walls, we can offer shelter."
The DOC can also offer transportation services, though not with inmate buses, in the rare case when people are stuck on motorways.
Another resource the DOC can offer is its people.
From psychological to medical to hostage negotiation, DOC personnel are skilled in many facets that can be crucial in an emergency. Hacherl works with PEMA to assign various personnel to certain tasks.
The inmates can also help out following a disaster. The community work programs have been used in the past to clean up after brushfires or flooding.
There are also 25 DOC representatives on the Pennsylvania Incident Management team. These employees serve as boots-on-the-ground and provide leadership of incidents.
Hacherl works with other public safety agencies and helps coordinate the transportation and use of various resources depending on the location and emergency.
But as always, our priority is the safety and wellness of our own staff and inmates. To prepare for any potential emergencies, the DOC engages in agreements with commodity providers and the counties to keep the prisons operational and secure.
"We're a huge burden on counties when problems arise, so we prepare for it," Hacherl said.
For example, if something happens to a prison's water supply, agreements are made in advance with water suppliers or portable toilet companies to make sure prisons will be able to continue operations as normal.
Hacherl also conducts risk analyses every year of every facility and rates them for potential disasters. Whether natural (flooding, blizzard, tornado) or man-made (terrorism, nuclear, drones), Hacherl rates every facility on likelihood of event and ensures the facility conducts drills to prepare.
"Anything you can dream of, we've prepared for it," Hacherl said.