MEMORANDUM

TO: City Council

FROM: David J. Deutsch, City Manager

SUBJECT: Emergency Preparedness Update

DATE: November 16, 2007

This memorandum serves to describe the City’s efforts in the area of emergency preparedness and provides an update to the last presentation to Council in March 2007. During the November 26, 2007 Worksession, staff will review the City’s progress on emergency preparedness, expand upon the bulleted items below, and will be prepared for discussion of the issues.

Communication

• Alert Bowie
  This service was offered to the public in September of 2006. To date, 926 users have signed up (almost double since our last meeting in March) to receive text messages from the City via email and on their cell phone or other electronic device. Approx-imately 25 alerts have been sent in the last year about , weather alerts, major road closings due to traffic accidents, and electrical outages. An Alert Bowie sign-up booth was set up at Bowiefest in June and National Night Out in August. The sign-up information is distributed during emergency preparedness presentations, homeowners association meetings, and is on the City’s website.
  
• On September 26, we gave a presentation to Department Heads about Alert Bowie. All City computers, Nextel phones, and other devices are to be registered.
  
• WeatherBug. Several employees are now signed on to this subscriber service that provides immediate information via electronic device about localized storms. This alert system then allows us to send immediate text messages to our employees and subscribers.

Business Community, Civic Groups, and Special Populations

• Outreach
  Staff has met, and will continue to meet, with representatives of local businesses, tenant associations, and other community groups to dispense information and answer questions about emergency preparedness. The FY08 Budget includes an objective to work with the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce to sign up their members to Alert Bowie. A Chamber of Commerce meeting was scheduled in September at City Hall to promote Alert Bowie and to general business preparedness. Unfortunately the meeting had to be cancelled by the Chamber at the last minute. An article about Alert Bowie was provided for the Chamber newsletter. While individual Chamber members have registered for the service, another opportunity to address the entire Chamber is still planned. The January issue of the Chamber newsletter will contain an article about Community Emergency Response Teams.
  
• During August, the Bowie Lions Club invited staff to speak about emergency preparedness. Thirty members (30) attended and discussions were held regarding the possibility of using the Lions Club facility as an emergency facility if needed. Staff will be working on the logistics/Memorandum of Understanding to make that possible.
  
• On July 17, we gave an emergency preparedness presentation at the Evergreen Senior Apartments. Fifty (50) residents attended and the event was covered by television Channels 4 and 5, County cable television, and two local newspapers.
  
• On September 13, we gave a presentation on emergency preparedness for seniors at the Senior Center. Thirty-one (31) seniors attended and a future presentation was requested.
  
• On October 13, we gave a presentation at the Somerset Park Senior Condominiums. Thirty (30) people attended and a follow-up presentation was requested.
  
• On October 2, we hosted an emergency preparedness workshop for members of the Professional Childcare Providers Network at City Hall. This organization represents over 200 individual childcare providers in Bowie. Over 85 members attended this workshop, which also included a presentation by the County’s Office of Emergency Management.
  
• On November 7, staff met with the Public Safety Committee and presented an overview of emergency preparedness efforts in the City.
  

Exercises/Training

• Training
  Staff members regularly attend training classes, seminars, and conferences related to the many facets of emergency preparedness. Ideas, real-world experiences and plans
  are in turn discussed and shared with other staff members and integrated into the City’s website, outreach material, and operational plans and actions.
  
  Since last March, staff members have attended training and accelerated certification classes in the National Incident Management System (NIMS), Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) sponsored tabletop exercises, MWCOG meetings, ICMA-sponsored conferences, and other local, County, State, and Federal presentations and exercises.
  
  The Bowie Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD) promotes local emergency preparedness and has been an advisor to staff about preparedness, response, and incident command. Recently, staff arranged with the BVFD to provide fire extinguisher training to our employees. In early November, 19 Senior Center staff members received the training. Training in the use of the extinguishers is planned for the staff at all City buildings.
  
• In their first annual report to City Council in September, the Public Safety Committee recommended that the City sponsor Community Emergency Response Team training (CERT). Staff has met with the County’s Office of Emergency Management and the training for interested volunteers will take place after the New Year.

Emergency Plan

• The City Emergency Plan was written in early 2003. Since that time, there have been many changes in the field of emergency management and more specifically, within Prince George’s County and the City of Bowie. The County established a Department of Homeland Security in 2003 and recently embarked on a major upgrade of the public safety communications system. An update of the County Emergency Plan is underway to reflect these and other changes. The City Plan is also being rewritten to recognize changes in the County Plan and to incorporate the City Police Department and the newly created position of Emergency Management Resources Coordinator. It is expected that we will be bring an updated plan before Council in the next 90-120 days.
  
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
  Staff has developed a standard form for City units that are tasked with response operations. Designed to be user-friendly, it delineates the command structure, contact numbers, tasks, and other information that are vital to an effective response. While City staff members often have years, in some instances decades, of institutional history and experience, the response plans are not always outlined in a form that would be easily understood if responsibility was transferred to a new supervisor or employee. Documenting current processes and procedures is ongoing and will enable the City government to have a continuity of operations should a catastrophe or illness disable certain employees.
  
• Outreach
  Personal readiness by citizens is the single most important aspect of surviving an incident. City staff makes preparation plans and guidelines available on-line, at City facilities and other local public buildings. Materials are also distributed at community meetings, and in settings where businesses, organizations, or other government entities are meeting.

Shelters

• The Prince George’s Office of Emergency Management is the agency primarily responsible for shelters in the County. The decision to open a County shelter is made based on the type of emergency, the location, the number of individuals affected by it, and the probable duration of the emergency. The County has agreements with M-NCPPC and the School System to use their facilities as shelters if the need arises.
  
• During the ice storm emergency in February 2007, City Hall opened as a warming center/shelter because Bowie was particularly hard hit by the storm. We wanted to ensure that there was a convenient place in Bowie for our residents to go. It was done in coordination with the Prince George’s County Office of Emergency Management and the American Red Cross. City Hall was chosen over the Senior Center because, at the outset it seemed to meet the needs of likely shelterees, it was potentially less disruptive to Senior Center users, and it was easier for City staff to manage. Given the number of residents who used it over the course of four days, it worked out well. However, if the power had stayed out longer, if conditions had deteriorated and residents could not bring or go out for their own meals, or if a lot more residents chose to spend the night in our shelter, we would have exceeded our capacity and would have had to move to the Senior Center. At that point, we would have also needed to enlist the help of the Red Cross in running a full-service shelter.
  
• Staff has been working with the American Red Cross to understand its role in shelter management. On September 13, we hosted a Mass Care training class at City Hall taught by the American Red Cross. Thirty-seven (37) attendees received certifications from the Red Cross for this class. The class included City employees, members of the St. Matthew’s Methodist Church Disaster Response Team, Bowie Civil Air Patrol, and other individual citizens.
  
• On November 5, we hosted another Red Cross training class. This certified the attendees in “Shelter Management” and included a simulations component. We had twenty-seven (27) participants in that class.

Working with Other Agencies

• Staff Outreach
  Staff has continued to promote a positive and proactive working relationship with other emergency management officials in our area. Since March 2007, staff has met with the County’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), Bowie Volunteer Fire Department, American Red Cross, District of Columbia Emergency Management Agency (DCEMA), County Public Schools Security officers, and Bowie State University Public Safety officials. In addition, meetings and discussions have been held with the St. Matthew’s Methodist Church Disaster Team and the Bowie Civil Air Patrol, as well as other agencies that provide first responder and support services to incidents. These relationships have proved beneficial and led to training exercises, best practices discussions, and a better understanding of available local resources.

Equipment/Supplies Acquisition

• Shelter Supplies. The Adopted FY08 Budget provides for the acquisition of some limited, basic shelter supplies such as cots, water, and blankets. Since we have completed our shelter training, the process of buying these supplies is now in motion.
  
• The BVFD has donated a fully functional generator/lighting vehicle to the City for use in emergency management. It has a 30-foot extendable light tower and two attached swivel light banks, a diesel-powered generator, and numerous storage bins for equipment and supplies (such as CERT team supplies). BVFD Chief Lee Havens has been a very supportive partner in our emergency management efforts and he felt that by donating the truck to the City for use in emergency management, we could reap the benefits of use and ownership for the small storage and maintenance costs involved. We also believe that the truck can be used during Special Events, such as the Fourth of July or the September 11th concert.
  
• The BVFD recently purchased a previously-owned mobile kitchen response unit. The unit has a gas stove, hot and cold water, a refrigerator, and other items to store and prepare food. The BVFD Auxiliary Volunteers will manage the unit. In keeping with our partnership regarding emergency management, Chief Havens’ idea is to use this vehicle to support not only BVFD first responders, but also “second responders” such as the City’s debris cleanup crews, CERT teams, and other emergency management human resources at the scene of incidents.
  
• Vial of Life. One of our most popular “giveaway” items at presentations has been the Vial of Life (Life being an acronym for Lifesaving Information For Emergencies). Simply described, it is a plastic medicine vial with a fill-in-the-blank form for a user’s personal contact and medical information. Three stickers also come with the vial—one for the front door of a user’s home, one for the refrigerator, and one for the vial. The user fills out important information (name, age, medications used, health problems, etc.) that an emergency responder might need from an unresponsive/nervous/forgetful victim of a medical or other emergency in the home. The form is folded and placed in the vial, and the vial is placed in the refrigerator. When EMT personnel see the red sticker on the front door, they are trained to retrieve the vial from the home’s refrigerator. Staff has given out over 350 vials and forms to residents since July. Verizon sponsors the program and provides the vials through the Sheriff’s Department.

Summary

The position of Emergency Management Resources Coordinator was established in the FY 2008 Budget. Publicity, especially in the form of newspaper articles about this new City focus, spurred an increased interest in the community about emergency preparedness and has been beneficial in establishing relationships with community organizations.

Staff will continue to enhance the state of preparedness for employees, residents, and businesses in the City through continuing education, training, and relationship building. Clearly, the recent training in the area of emergency management, networking with external entities, and the policy of after-incident critiques will enable the City to better respond to incidents. The ideas and questions brought forward by Council, citizens, and the Public Safety Committee have spurred actions that have benefited the City. A tremendous amount of information has been learned and an equally tremendous amount of effort to distribute information has been made. Staff will continue to seek out grants and partnerships with entities in the emergency management arena. Staff will continue to provide timely updates to Council and is always available for questions and comments from the Council or residents.

DJD/AC