These records focus on crisis management aspects of the spill. To obtain these articles, dissertations, and abstracts, it is suggested that you print off the pertinent records and submit it to your local librarian for assistance. Most libraries can obtain the documents through interlibrary loan. The initial response to an oil spill can in itself determine the effectiveness and success of the entire response effort. The development of a contingency plan prepares an organization to quickly mobilize, organize, and control the response.
Most organizations utilize contingency plans to prepare for emergencies.
However, it has been commonly observed that during an actual response there is inevitably a shift away from the organizational forms and actions delineated in the established contingency plan. This deviation from stated procedures is often so dramatic that the original plan becomes of limited use. Using the results of the pilot test elements of the oil spill response process were identified and categorized a hierarchical structure. The model was tested by the response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill as a case study and the four main contingency plans that were in effect. Expert Choice software was used to build a hierarchy that employed the pairwise comparison technique.