Emergency Services in the Greater Amherst Area

Transcription

1 Emergency Services in the Greater Amherst Area CHARGE FOR THE LOCAL STUDY ( ) This study will focus on the community services available in the Amherst area to deal with emergency situations that may arise from fiscal crisis, man-made disasters, or natural catastrophes. Local, state, and federal services will be studied. The word "services" will be defined broadly to cover everything from plans, to funding, to trained personnel and materials/equipment that are currently in place. OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) have mandated that cities and towns develop and maintain an emergency preparedness plan that must be updated annually. Emergency plans include response policies, response organization and task assignments, communications, coordination with local and regional organizations, as well as periodic tests and exercises. The League Study Group on Emergency Preparedness has reviewed a variety of federal and state emergency-planning documents, conducted a series of interviews and sponsored a public meeting with town officials to assess the state of emergency readiness in Amherst and the surrounding region. Both the Town of Amherst and the University of Massachusetts have well-developed emergency plans that are being continuously updated and tested. The Amherst plan is based on an emergency incident management team concept and establishment of an Emergency Operations Center to provide extensive communications with responders in the field and with the public. Emergency responses may include evacuation, shelter-in-place, or lockdown options, depending upon the specific incident that occurs. During an emergency, cooperation and coordination among the Town of Amherst, University of Massachusetts, Amherst-Pelham school system, and area academic institutions is a high priority. In addition, ongoing regional planning for emergencies includes the Hampshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee, Hampshire County Public Health Coalition, five Medical Reserve Corps units, Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and the Health Homeland Alert Network for rapid cell-phone and communications. Dissemination of advisory emergency information to individuals, families, and businesses also represents a critical component of emergency preparedness. Currently, the Town of Amherst does not provide such information although S.A.L.T. (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together) has published a booklet on emergency preparedness. The present League Study Group report describes ways in which emergency communication to the public could be accomplished, and suggests development of organized, :neighborhood emergency-response units to facilitate communication and responses during local and regional emergencies. 1

2 INTRODUCTION Emergency Preparedness exists at several levels: federal, state, local, regional, and the individual. Each level must be prepared for many types of emergencies or disasters, natural or man-made, that might occur. The federal government, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security, provides educational materials, financial help, and technical assistance in a disaster when state and local efforts are not enough. A community can request assistance from the state through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The state may be able to supply money, equipment, and personnel as well as coordinate efforts of various jurisdictions. Twenty communities in the region, including Amherst, are members of the Hampshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee. Local government is expected to establish and maintain an emergency plan and has the responsibility of taking care of its residents. In a major emergency, communities are on their own for 72 hours before MEMA or FEMA help would arrive. Individuals should be prepared to protect themselves and their families before, during, and after an event. Households should have a plan for what to do in various situations. Materials are available from FEMA and MEMA to help individuals establish plans. The League study focuses on the local level. The study group has read materials produced by FEMA and MEMA as well as the Town, University, and the schools. Committee members have met with town, school, and University officials responsible for emergency preparedness. Cooley Dickinson Hospital was contacted for information on their planning. An open meeting on Emergency Preparedness was held on January 26,2010 in the Town Room, Town Hall with speakers Town Manager Larry Shaffer, Assistant Fire Chief Michael Zlogar (Director of Emergency Preparedness), Public Health Director Julie Federman, Police Lieutenant Robert O'Connor, and Interim Fire Chief Lindsey Stromgren. Emergency Preparedness at the Local Level The local level is composed of paid employees and volunteers who work to prevent emergencies from happening and are prepared to respond if something does occur. Most emergencies are handled at the local level. Local officials are responsible for: Preparing and coordinating emergency plans Identifying hazards and assessing potential risk to the community. Establishing warning systems Assessing damage and identifying needs Evacuating the community to safer locations Caring for the injured r 2

3 Providing shelter for those who cannot remain in their homes Aiding recovery efforts Towns and other entities prepare emergency plans following FEMA and MEMA guidelines. Plans are updated annually and have to be approved by the state. An emergency is an incident or event that occurs which may result in extreme peril to residents or property. A disaster would be a more severe, broader situation that would pose a significant threat to a larger community. Emergencies could be weather-related such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding. They could be related to hazardous materials, power outages, or terrorist acts. General plans are prepared which can be applied in the case of a specific incident. Plans provide a framework for emergency responses by establishing response policies and response organization, and assigning tasks. Communication among officials, responders, other jurisdictions, and the public is very important throughout an emergency. Financial records must be maintained during this period. Plans for continuity of business are also included. Amherst's plan is based on the incident management team concept. An Emergency Operations Center (EOC) would be set up. Those managing the operations would be based at the EOe. Those responding would be in the field. There would be communication from the EOC to the field responders as well as to the public. The Town and the schools have separate communication systems, Connect CTY and Connect Ed, that are used to communicate with the public, either as a whole, or in affected parts. Responses to emergencies include evacuation, shelter-in-place, or lockdown. These responses are used in the plans ofthe town, schools, and the University. Regular updating and testing of the Amherst plans As part of a FEMA document with directions on mandated plans, the following sentence appears about the importance of testing plans once made: "Without testing the Plan in a simulated emergency, it is impossible to tell if the Plan's assumptions, assignments, and other details would be effective in a real emergency situation. " In practice, testing emergency preparedness plans takes place in several different ways. a. Tabletop testing is a method in which all participants in the test sit around a table and share information and actions that relate to the role of each in a hypothetical emergency. b. Live testing takes place when a particular emergency is posited and those involved in the preparedness techniques actually carry out their roles. c. An actual event also provides a test of how well planning has been carried out 3

4 In each case there can be evaluations after or during the test to identify where improvements might be made in carrying out the role of participants, and suggestions considered about how to accomplish those improvements. Brian Olsen, the Manager for Emergency Planning at the University of Massachusetts, remarked that "no matter how many possible emergencies you plan for - it could be 18 - and what actually happens will be a 19 th possibility." Several of the people involved in emergency preparedness planning stated in varying ways that the process of planning is what is important rather than the specifics of a given plan. to differing emergencies. When planning is well done and complete, the methods can be applied In Amherst, some of the tests which have been done, are: a. Tabletop is a frequent type of test for emergency planning. The Town regularly does tabletops along with the annual evaluation and updating of the mandated emergency plans. The Health Department (in addition to inoculation management) does tests of medication disbursements according to a system in which medicines are distributed to various centralized sites and from there sent to the local areas of need. Schools do several different types of tabletop tests - sometimes around an actual table and also by personal checking with Principals and team captains in each school. David Slovin, the Amherst and Regional School Districts' Safety Officer, runs two tabletops a year. There are different protocols depending on the type of emergency. The University also does frequent tabletop testing of emergency plans. Eight tests have been conducted in the 20 months since Brian Olsen has been on the job. They do an assessment after each test to determine what went well and where improvements can be made. b. Live testing A live test conducted by the University in conjunction with the town consisted of an exercise last April in a simulated ammonia release. The University partnered with the Amherst Fire Department, had student nurses doing triage, and did psychological first aid. c. Actual event as a test of the planning An actual event can be helpful in planning. The Amherst 250 th celebration parade provided a test of planning for handling crowd control at a large public gathering. The means of communication among the emergency personnel proved to be inadequate. Subsequently, a grant has been received to address the problem. 4

5 Police Lieutenant Robert O'Connor said that they considered management of the annual Hobart Lane celebrations at the end of the University academic year as another test of their emergency preparedness. The need for emergency inoculations against the HINI virus provided an actual test for the Town and its Health Department in cooperation with the University of Massachusetts. According to Amherst Health Director Julie Federman" previous flu clinics provided the know-how for setting up the program. Plans for coordination among the Town of Amherst University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College Plans for coordination among the Town of Amherst, University of Massachusetts, Amherst College and Hampshire College are tested periodically. Whether an incident is low-impact or high-impact, localized or town-wide, detailed plans are in place to facilitate responses quickly. Periodic tabletop exercises demonstrate the degree of readiness of each institution and are modified to upgrade training as necessary. Among the town and the academic institutions ongoing communication is recognized as an essential component of any emergency response plan. Ongoing regional planning, cooperation and coordination of effort during emergencies by area towns and institutions. Emergency planning guidelines are handed down from FEMA and MEMA to local governments. No state incident management team exists until an emergency occurs. In a major emergency, 72 hours would elapse before MEMA or FEMA assistance would arrive locally. In the interim, communities have to manage their incidents locally and request assistance from the state, which could mobilize resources from the Framingham emergency center. A Hampshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee includes representatives from 20 towns in the region, including Amherst. The University of Massachusetts has its own emergency preparedness officer and a detailed plan. The University has a close working relationship with Amherst and Hadley. In addition, a Five-College emergency preparedness group meets on a monthly basis. With regard to heath-related emergencies, FEMA has provided funds for development of the Hampshire County Public Health Coalition. Five Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) units (Amherst, South Hadley, UMass, Hilltown, and Nonotuck) made up of volunteer trained health professionals are currently active in Hampshire County. The Health Homeland Alert Network (HHAN) provides a communication network by cell phone and . The Town of Amherst also works closely with UMass which manages Amherst and Hampshire Colleges' health services. UMass communicates and interacts with Cooley Dickinson Hospital. In a local emergency, the University Health Services could receive ambulances and become an Emergency Room Facility. The regional cooperation that would occur during an actual emergency will be based upon ongoing, continuous regional planning and coordination. 5

6 The development and use of trained civilian volunteers as part of the emergency response One of the major responsibilities assigned to local government by FEMA and MEMA is to keep residents prepared and aware of emergency plans and the planning process. In our interviews, it appeared that this important issue in emergency planning has not yet been fully addressed. While Amherst's planners recognize that they need to focus on civilian involvement, they stated that this remains an agenda item for future consideration. Currently, local public involvement does occur through the MRC units in Amherst and at UMass. MRC units are associated with a national organization and consist of volunteer medical professionals and some nonprofessional civilians. Members must attend a certain number of training sessions and participate in emergency drills each year. One of the questions raised in interviews was whether there should be separate civilian volunteer groups developed, analogous to the volunteer MRC units and perhaps integrated with them. FEMA guidelines indicate that in an emergency, individuals should focus on "Family first, Neighbors second, and Neighborhood next." Development of organized neighborhood emergency-response units, similar to earlier Civil Defense units, could be extremely helpful in communication and responses to both local and regional emergencies. The dissemination of advisory emergency information to individuals, families, and businesses to help them prepare for emergency situations and understand their responsibilities. For safety's sake, individuals, families, and businesses need to know what to do in emergency situations. It is also important for community members and private businesses to understand and accept their responsibilities in an emergency. This information is necessary to insure that emergencies are dealt with as successfully as possible. Knowing what to do and why reduces fear and anxiety, can significantly decrease the impact of a disaster, and increase the probability that the community will behave in appropriate, lawful, and effective ways. The Amherst S.A.L. T. (Seniors and Law Enforcement Together) Council produces a publication called Emergency Preparedness Guide for seniors which is available at the Senior Center in the Bangs Center and on line at the Amherst police web site. Currently the Town of Amherst does not provide advisory emergency information for non-seniors, families, or businesses. FEMA suggests that advisory emergency information be developed by a team that includes private sector individuals and representatives from government departments and agencies that "... can contribute critical perspectives or will have a role in executing the plan." The information itself should be straightforward and flexible, and easily adaptable to changing 6

7 conditions. It is also important that the information make clear how the community's role and responsibilities fit into the town's overall emergency preparedness plans. Information should be easily available, frequently reviewed and updated, and disseminated widely in a variety of ways. For example, it could be mailed with tax bills to all residents and businesses, published in local papers, and available at Town Hall on the town's web site at the elementary and regional schools at the town's libraries at the Chamber of Commerce on the League web site at the Bangs Center at UMass and the colleges through ACTV. Emergency Preparedness Planning Statements for Concurrence Given that the Federal and Massachusetts Emergency Management Agencies (FEMA and MEMA) mandate that every city and town have emergency preparedness plans, the League supports: 1. regular updating and testing of the Amherst plans. 2. ongoing coordination among the plans of the town, University of Massachusetts, Amherst College, and Hampshire College. 3. ongoing regional planning, cooperation, and coordination of effort during emergencies by area towns and institutions. 4. the development and use of trained civilian volunteers as part of the emergency response. 5. the dissemination of advisory emergency information to individuals, families, and businesses to help them prepare for emergency situations and understand their responsibilities.

8 EOC - Emergency Operations Center Glossary of Terms FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency lllian - Department of Public Health (DPH) Health and Homeland Alerting Network HREPC - Hampshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee lap - Incident Action Plan J\.1EMA- Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency MRC - Medical Reserve Corps NIMS - National Incident Management System S.A.L. T. - Seniors and Law Enforcement Together Sources Federal Emergency Manage ent Agency (FEMA): Massachusetts Emergency M agement Agency (MEMA): edu/alerts/pdf/emergencyprocedures.pdf Town of Amherst Police Department: University of Massachusetts Emergency Procedures: Western Massachusetts Medical Reserve Corps: wmmrc.org Are You Ready? An In-Depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness, FEMA, IS-22 August 2004 Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Revision #6 September 2007 "Denver, CO Emergency Planning Guidelines," Denver, CO November 2005 Emergency Preparedness Guide, Town of Amherst Seniors and Law Enforcement Together December 2009 Incident Action Plan: 250th Anniversary Parade, Town of Amherst Emergency Operations Center, September