Amateur Radio Operator – the True Survivalist by David Malin

If there is one thing this hobby teaches its students is personal preparedness.  Amateur Radio operators, also called ham radio operators, are usually hobbyists in radio electronics that like to plan for the unexpected and naturally perform emergency drills and for power [...]]]> Amateur Radio Operator – the True Survivalist by David Malin

If there is one thing this hobby teaches its students is personal preparedness.  Amateur Radio operators, also called ham radio operators, are usually hobbyists in radio electronics that like to plan for the unexpected and naturally perform emergency drills and for power outages.  Most of these operators eventually purchase a generator, spare batteries and participate in at least one major disaster exercise per year, called Field Day.  This event occurs every year during the month of June where Ham Radios operators across the world operate their equipment by Non- commercial power (Solar, Battery, Generator, Wind Turbine, etc).  This exercise becomes not only a contest between ham radio operators regarding who can make the most contacts over a weekend period, but it also becomes a social gathering between friends and family.  It’s an event that truly makes you think what would you do if you were to lost communications and power for an extended period of time.  The recent Southern California windstorms caused residents in the Pasadena, Arcadia area to be without power for 8 days.  This one minor event caused businesses millions of dollars of lost revenue and residents to have all their refrigerated food to spoil.  This one event was minor and completely overloaded local resources beyond the capabilities to restore services in a short period of time.  Most people take for granted that they can call for help at any time and things will be taken care of in a reasonable amount of time.  This is not the case during a disaster.  A disaster is simply the damaged caused exceeds local capabilities to respond.  One windstorm affected the entire Pasadena region for over a week.  What do you think will happen if Southern California gets hit with an 8.0 earthquake, which we are way overdue?  You have a choice, become a victim or become a survivalist.  Interested in learning about becoming an Amateur Radio Operator yet?

There are many ways to become Ham.  To learn more about the hobby, you can do a Google search and look up Ham Radio Clubs in your area and show up for a meeting.  Trust me when I tell you there will be many people at these clubs meetings willing to help explain the process of going about getting your license and aiding you in the process.  In order to become a Ham requires that you earn a license (pass a 35-question test) issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  If need more help or assistance getting started you can still contact me and I will get you going in the right direction.   David Malin, Amateur Radio callsign AA6RV, CaptMalin@aa6rv.com

By Tammy Lee Morris | Yahoo! Contributor Network

A reactor at a Southern California nuclear power plant was shut down after a leak in a steam generator tube on Tuesday, Reuters reported. This incident came a day after WIFR reported a nuclear plant lost power [...]]]> By Tammy Lee Morris | Yahoo! Contributor Network

A reactor at a Southern California nuclear power plant was shut down after a leak in a steam generator tube on Tuesday, Reuters reported. This incident came a day after WIFR reported a nuclear plant lost power and shut down in Byron, Ill., on Monday. While both incidents were determined to not be high emergency levels, they are reminders of the importance to include nuclear disaster planning in individual and family emergency plans.

* A shutdown of a nuclear power plant could potentially mean a loss of electricity service to customers.

* The most frightening hazard from a nuclear power plant accident is exposure to radiation. FEMA characterizes the most common type of radiation exposure is from a cloud of radioactive gases and particles that could form. This type of cloud could cause exposure through particles left on the ground, breathing or ingesting radioactive materials.

* FEMA characterizes the risk area around a nuclear disaster as two zones. Zone one is a 10-mile radius around the plant where an incident occurs. People within this zone could be harmed by direct exposure to radiation. Zone two is a 50-mile radius around the plant in which radioactive materials from an accident could cause contamination of crops, water supplies and livestock.

* Before a nuclear emergency, residents living near a power plant are urged to follow normal emergency planning and preparedness as they would for any other emergency such as an earthquake. Make a plan that would require evacuation, and prepare a kit full of needed supplies that include food, water, prescription meds, important paperwork and other necessities. Don’t forget your pets in your plan.

* If you live near a nuclear power plant, become familiar with emergency terms used to describe an incident.

* An “unusual incident” means a problem has occurred but there is no risk that will affect residents around the plant.

* “Alert” means a problem has occurred and small amounts of radiation could leak inside the plant but still no risk to residents around the plant.

* “Site Area Emergency” means residents in the zones around the plant might hear sirens from the plant and should listen to local television and radio stations for instructions and information.

* “General Emergency” is the highest alert level. This means radiation could leak from the plant and into the surrounding areas. Sirens will sound and residents are urged to listen carefully to instructions that will be broadcast on TV and radio. You should plan to act very quickly upon instructions during this alert level.

* Be prepared to act quickly, evacuate if necessary and move as far from a radiation source as possible. During an evacuation, close all car windows and vents, and recirculate air in your vehicle.

* If you are told to remain inside, turn off all air intakes in your home — air conditioning units, vents, fans and furnaces.

* Shield yourself and your family by going to a basement and/or placing dense material such as heavy plastic between yourself and the outside.

* If you are exposed to radiation, don’t waste time — follow decontamination procedures which include taking a thorough shower and placing exposed shoes and clothing into plastic bags which should then be sealed and put out of the way.

Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope — a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, weather and other natural phenomena.

http://news.yahoo.com/nuclear-reactor-incidents-reminders-preparedness-194100073.html

A week of problems at the San Onofre nuclear power plant has raised new safety concerns among some activists.

Officials of Southern California Edison, which operates the facility and is a majority owner, insist that the plant is perfectly safe, but others say the mishaps are one more sign of [...]]]> A week of problems at the San Onofre nuclear power plant has raised new safety concerns among some activists.

Officials of Southern California Edison, which operates the facility and is a majority owner, insist that the plant is perfectly safe, but others say the mishaps are one more sign of problems.

The situation is “further evidence that California should move beyond nuclear power. California should plan for the orderly phase out of … aging nuclear power plants, including San Onofre, and shift to clean-energy alternatives like energy efficiency and renewable power,” Bernadette Del Chiaro, director of clean-energy programs for the advocacy group Environment California, said in a statement.

Nuclear regulation officials said Thursday that extensive wear had been found on tubes inside a unit at the San Onofre nuclear plant.

Another unit at the plant was taken off-line after a small radiation leak earlier this week.

Dozens of relatively new tubes that carry radioactive water in a steam generator showed “many, many years” worth of wear, even though the tubing is 22 months old, said Victor Dricks, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Nearly 70 tubes, made from a metal alloy and formed into a U-shape, had 20% of their interior lining worn off, while hundreds more had 10% of the lining deteriorated, Dricks said. More than 9,000 tubes are in the generator.

Dricks said that some of the tubes will require repair, while others will probably have to be replaced.

But Edison officials say it’s too early to make any determination on a course of action, and that additional tests will be conducted. The unit was off-line for a scheduled maintenance period of several months to deal with technology upgrades and fuel replacement, said Gil Alexander, an Edison spokesman.

It is unclear why the tubes are showing so much wear.

The NRC’s findings come on the heels of a leak in a tube Tuesday, prompting operators to shut down a reactor. However, officials said, the amount of radiation released was minuscule and did not endanger the public.

“San Onofre has had such a troubled history in terms of the safety culture that each of these incidents shakes me further,” Daniel Hirsch with the group Committee to Bridge the Gap told the Orange County Register.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/san-onofre-nuclear-plant-leak-worn-tube.html

NOTE: This article by Stephen Box highlights the importance of the vulnerability of seniors in emergencies and I fully agree with it’s focus.  I also agree so much more needs to be done but as an emergency manager I also know the issue is often discussed and addressed in meetings of organizations [...]]]> NOTE: This article by Stephen Box highlights the importance of the vulnerability of seniors in emergencies and I fully agree with it’s focus.  I also agree so much more needs to be done but as an emergency manager I also know the issue is often discussed and addressed in meetings of organizations that are on the cutting edge of preparedness issues such as the Emergency Network of Los Angeles (ENLA). Many of us active in community preparedness issues are very concerned about seniors and proactive in getting the message out.  The Map Your Neighborhood (MYN) presented by COPE Preparedness directly addresses seniors and other populations that also vulnerable. Lonna Calhoun, CEM

By, Stephen Box:

RETHINKING LA – The fastest growing demographic group in America is senior citizens, a simple fact that should be guiding the City of LA as it goes through the charade of emergency preparedness planning, but one that isn’t even part of the dialogue.

The essence of emergency preparedness is based on the notion that in a true emergency, the people of Los Angeles must be self-sufficient, prepared to survive for days without public safety support, health services, water & power, sanitation, access to fresh food, or streets that work.

LA’s Fire Department conducts Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training that prepares community members for emergencies in a series of classes that progress from the basics of self-sufficiency to managing an evacuation shelter to advanced emergency medical skills.

The CERT training instills in individuals a hierarchy of emergency responses that is counterintuitive but essential, starting with protecting yourself, then protecting your loved ones, then protecting your neighbors. It may seem selfish to start with yourself but the message the instructors drill into the student’s heads is “You can’t help your loved ones and neighbors  if you allow yourself to become an immobilized or dead victim.”

The CERT training in self-sufficiency is an extremely powerful experience with applications on preparedness that resonate through other non-emergency scenarios, demonstrating at every turn that the most powerful tool we possess is the one between your ears.

It also serves to dramatize a painful oversight that has the potential to leave our largest demographic group vulnerable and on their own in the next major earthquake or fire or catastrophe that requires neighborhoods to evacuate in large numbers.

Quite simply, LA’s current emergency preparedness instructions for the seniors in our community, many of whom are already experiencing a lack of self-sufficiency, is “In the event of a serious disaster, everyone should be self-sufficient for at least three days without help or emergency services.”

It doesn’t take an expert in Gerontology to see the problem in this paradigm of emergency preparedness. Expecting a demographic group that is growing in numbers while experiencing a decrease in mobility and self-sufficiency in the best of times to suddenly become self-sufficient is simply civic malpractice.

Senior citizens currently represent 37% of our adult population and are projected to make up 45% by the year 2015. It’s estimated that men will outlive their ability to drive by 7 years, women by 10 years.

How then does the City of Los Angeles intend to guide this significantly sized and extremely vulnerable demographic group through the next emergency? By admonishing them to buy a “Go” bag and be prepared to evacuate on foot? By advising those who require assistance in the activities of daily living (ADL’s) such as grooming, dressing, going to the bathroom, and eating that they should be prepared to go several days on their own?

When Griffith Park was engulfed in fire and the adjacent Los Feliz neighborhood was evacuated, the surrounding streets and even the freeway was completely jammed with gridlock traffic. Residents walked out of the hillside community, some carrying a well fed lapcat or lapdog under one arm and a bag of prescription drugs under the other.

This is LA’s plan? Walk if you can, condolences if you can’t.

It was the CERT volunteers who set up the evacuation center at Marshall High School and provided services to those who were able to navigate the dark streets and find the solitary unlocked gate on a huge High School Campus. Other residents who were lucky enough to have friends and family near by, simply walked out of the neighborhood to prearranged pickup points and were whisked away to other neighborhoods.

But this scenario required the residents to self-mobilize and included no checks and balances to ensure that nobody was forgotten.

One would think that the City of LA would be better connected, that there would be some mechanism for identifying those who need assistance in an emergency and that there would be a plan in place for connecting with them.

In the summer of 1995, Chicago experienced a record heat wave that saw the city’s hard infrastructure buckle while the administration of city services simply collapsed, resulting in 739 excess deaths in one week.

At first glance, the explanation is simple, it was too hot and the most vulnerable died. But it wasn’t so simple.

In what was termed a “social autopsy,” researchers examined the factors that contributed to disproportionate numbers of casualties in some neighborhoods while equally physically vulnerable seniors in other neighborhoods survived the heat.

They discovered that it wasn’t the heat the killed 739 Chicago residents, it was isolation in the midst of a natural disaster.

Residents of communities with a strong social network were more likely to reach out to others when in crisis. Neighbors checked on each other and encouraged each other to move to cooling stations before it was too late.

Residents of communities with high mortality rates were made up of seniors who withdrew into their homes, who were less likely to answer a knock on the door, and who had no one to turn to when they were in crisis.

In other words, residents of neighborhoods with a strong “social ecology” survived while residents of neighborhoods that weren’t connected saw disproportionate casualties.

The City of LA has had over a decade to look at the Chicago experience and to evaluate LA’s emergency preparedness plan in the context of “connected communities” and the needs of our largest and most vulnerable constituent group and yet, where’s LA’s plan?

Well connected healthy communities are not only more likely to survive natural disasters but they also experience a reduction in crime and gang activity.

This was recently demonstrated when Mayor Villaraigosa and Police Chief Beck released the most recent crime data, touting the fact that crime rate was at the lowest that it’s been since the 50′s. The Mayor simply said it was “mind-boggling” but the Chief explained that it was due to good police work and the ever increasing role of the community in public safety.

One would think that these results would prompt the City of LA to double down on its social services commitment but the Mayor and the LAPD seem committed to the continual militarization of the police force rather than to an increasing commitment to engaging the community in the process.

This systemic dismissal of the importance of strong connected communities is evident as the LAPD moves forward with a plan to turn the old Rampart station into a SWAT station rather than fulfilling the wishes of the neighbors who envision a community center.

As for the seniors, they vote in greater numbers than any other age group yet they are forgotten during LA’s annual budget melee, victims of a Mayor and City Council that lacks the political will to commit basic resources to the city’s most vulnerable residents.

“Soft” health and social support services are delegated and redelegated, often falling on the shoulders of those who are ill-equipped or unwilling to accept responsibility. Through it all, it is the work of non-profit groups such as the Assistance League that creates the safety net and holds it together.

In times of calm, on any given day, LA’s police and fire departments respond to multiple calls from seniors who then receive transportation, emergency primary medical care, connection to social services, and safety support.

But…in times of disaster, the LAPD and the LAFD will be completely focused on the larger crisis and unable to respond to individual calls from residents who are limited in capabilities and mobility.

Watching Mayor Villaraigosa at the podium again, extolling the benefits of emergency preparedness, is to watch a demonstration in complete disconnect from reality.

Villaraigosa’s plan is to talk about preparedness while completely abdicating on his responsibility to implement a plan for connectivity, one that will take root now, not when it’s too late to do anything.

Dying young is a tragedy, but it pales in comparison to the real tragedy which is growing old in a city that takes you for granted and doesn’t have a plan for you in case of an emergency.

Seniors tend to live in one of five different housing arrangements, independently at their own home, in a retirement community with some support, at home but with some support, in an assisted living facility, and in a nursing home where physical and mental needs can be met.

If Villaraigosa is serious about emergency preparedness, he will produce five plans for LA’s senior community, demonstrating a commitment to connectivity that will ensure the survival of our most vulnerable yet significant age group.

If he can’t handle the task, it’s up to those of us who are willing and able. After all, we’ll all be there soon.

(Stephen Box is a grassroots advocate and writes for CityWatch. He can be reached at: Stephen@thirdeyecreative.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .) –cw

Tags: Stephen Box, Rethinking LA, seniors, senior citizens, CERT, Community Emergency Response Team, emergency preparedness, Los Angeles, senior centers, Gerontology

CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 4
Pub: Jan 13, 2012

Source: member // International Medical Corps – USA

January 10, 2012 – Los Angeles, Calif. – As Haiti marks the two-year anniversary of the January 2010 earthquake, International Medical Corps continues its lifesaving humanitarian programs in the country while calling for sustained public attention and donor commitment. Having delivered a [...]]]>

Source: member // International Medical Corps – USA

January 10, 2012 – Los Angeles, Calif. – As Haiti marks the two-year anniversary of the January 2010 earthquake, International Medical Corps continues its lifesaving humanitarian programs in the country while calling for sustained public attention and donor commitment. Having delivered a comprehensive emergency response during the acute phases of the disaster, the organization is now focusing on cholera treatment and management as well as disaster preparedness for the country’s local and national health infrastructure.

“We are extremely concerned that half a million people still live in camps, access to water and sanitation is limited and cholera is still endemic,” said Sean Casey, International Medical Corps country director in Haiti. “We are optimistic about the government and its leadership, and about the future in Haiti. But we are also realistic, and recognize that building institutions and increasing capacity to provide for 10 million Haitian citizens will take time. We call on the international community to honor its commitments to Haiti.”

International Medical Corps was delivering lifesaving medical care within 22 hours of the earthquake and has since provided more than 340,000 medical consultations through a network of health clinics.  The organization also operated programs in nutrition, mental health care, water, sanitation and hygiene and launched a multi-faceted response following the cholera outbreak in October 2010. Since the earthquake, International Medical Corps has worked in six of Haiti’s ten departments, with one of the largest cholera response programs in the country. In addition to establishing 37 cholera treatment sites where nearly 40,000 patients received lifesaving treatment, International Medical Corps trained 1,205 local healthcare providers in cholera care, distributed more than 765,000 hygiene and sanitation materials, and educated more than 2 million Haitians on cholera prevention.

International Medical Corps’ focus on water and sanitation projects also laid the foundation necessary for Haiti to prevent cholera outbreaks in the long-term, through construction of latrines, hand-washing stations, and waste disposal systems across urban and rural locations. The organization is now the only major cholera treatment service provider in the South Department of Haiti.

At every step of the disaster response International Medical Corps has been training local staff and working to build sustainable local capacity. The 2010 earthquake demonstrated critical gaps in disaster response capability, exacerbated by loss of infrastructure. International Medical Corps’ commitment to rebuilding Haiti’s shattered health services includes ensuring that the country is prepared for future disasters and emergencies.  The organization is rebuilding capacity within the L’Hôpital de l’Université d’Etat d’Haïti (HUEH), the country’s main training hospital in Port-au-Prince. Through funding from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, International Medical Corps has trained more than 300 Haitian physicians, nurses, and medics to provide emergency care and respond to future disasters.

In early December, International Medical Corps organized a disaster drill attended by approximately 100 medical volunteers practicing advanced techniques on minimizing deaths from large-scale disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes.  Volunteers included medics from Port-au-Prince’s fire department and the Haitian Red Cross; physicians and nurses from HUEH; and international disaster experts from International Medical Corps. The simulation successfully incorporated several different agencies that had previously never trained for disasters together.

“In a disaster situation, these agencies will have to pool resources in order to meet the immediate needs of the population,” said international disaster response specialist, Dr. Gerard DeMers. “This is especially evident when critical health services and institutions are impacted by disasters.”

International Medical Corps’ training programs have coincided with rehabilitation of the emergency department at HUEH and distribution of essential medical equipment. International Medical Corps recently introduced the use of emergency ultrasound technology to 85 physicians at HUEH. Ultrasound technology used during emergency medical care can result in immediate identification of injury minimizing critical time needed to save lives. Previously, doctors in HUEH’s emergency department would have had to refer injured patients to the radiology department to seek an ultrasound, meaning frequent delays due to high demand and limited operating hours.

“Ultrasound is a key aid in resource-constrained environments, functioning as an immediate diagnostic tool for a wide range of emergencies,” said Dr. Ross Donaldson, International Medical Corps’ Global Head of Emergency and Disaster Care. “There is no doubt that the introduction of this ultrasound training program and technology will lead to many lives saved in Haiti.”

In addition to running disaster preparedness trainings, cholera response and health care programs in Haiti International Medical Corps has also:
• Trained 1,505 health care providers
• Screened nearly 150,000 children for malnutrition
• Built nearly 600 latrines and showers
• Educated 30,162 Haitians on hygiene and sanitation
• Educated more than 2 million Haitians on cholera prevention

To read the full report on International Medical Corps’ activities in Haiti for the last two years, please go to: http://internationalmedicalcorps.org/Haiti2YearReport

Since its inception nearly 30 years ago, International Medical Corps’ mission has been consistent: relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster, and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information visit: www.InternationalMedicalCorps.org

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/two-years-after-haiti-earthquake-international-medical-corps-continues-cholera-response-and-disaster-preparedness-programs-but-commitment-from-donors-still-critically-needed

Emergency Management writes the following about the importance of repairing America’s crumbling infrastructure:

They call it “critical” infrastructure for a reason. Roads and bridges, energy, water, even the food supply: The loss of any one of these can bring a region to its knees.

It’s not just the collapse of a [...]]]>

Emergency Management writes the following about the importance of repairing America’s crumbling infrastructure:

They call it “critical” infrastructure for a reason. Roads and bridges, energy, water, even the food supply: The loss of any one of these can bring a region to its knees.

It’s not just the collapse of a critical resource that can wreak havoc. Rather, it’s the inherent interdependencies within these systems — the potential for a domino effect of failures — coupled with the complex nature of public and private interests inherent in critical infrastructure.

To understand how critical infrastructure drives unique challenges for emergency managers, it helps to start with a real-world example.

On April 9, 2009, vandals in San Jose, Calif., cut through an AT&T fiber-optic cable, disrupting land line and cellphone service to thousands of residential and business customers, but the damage went much further. The Internet went down, 911 calls were stymied and law enforcement telecommunications broke down.

“If the police made a car stop, they couldn’t ask for warrants, they couldn’t run license checks, so it became an officer safety issue,” said Frances Edwards, the former director of emergency preparedness for San Jose. The incident proved vividly that a breach in the private infrastructure could have broad implications, even hampering public-sector efforts to manage an emergency.

The San Jose outage is but one example, and not even the most extreme, of the perils posed by a vulnerable infrastructure.

In September 2010, a 54-year-old gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, Calif., killing eight people and destroying more than 50 homes. In one high-profile incident in 2007, a bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed, killing 13 and injuring 145.

Events like these illustrate why the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave America an overall “D” grade for its decaying critical infrastructure.

The situation appears to be a recipe for disaster. The average bridge in the U.S. is 43 years old, and one in four of the nation’s 600,000 bridges is deficient, according to the ASCE. The Wall Street Journal reported that of more than 3,000 oil and gas production platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico, one-third were built in the 1970s or earlier. It gets worse: A New York Times analysis found that a significant water line bursts roughly every two minutes, or 720 times a day.

Complicating the situation for emergency planners is the fact that every event related to critical infrastructure is unique, leaving planners to face more unknowns than knowns.

Each time an infrastructure element fails, “it causes the emergency managers to reconsider all of their emergency plans,” Edwards said. “You don’t know what you don’t know, so after you have an event like this, it makes you stop and wonder: What else is out there? Now you have all this new information on how systems actually function, so you have to rethink your procedures and retrain your staff to make room for the new reality based on what you did not know before.”

In other words: a moving target.

The situation is further compounded by the privatization of roughly 85 percent of the nation’s most critical infrastructure systems. That infrastructure may encompass varied forms. According to the U.S. DHS, critical infrastructure includes not just the obvious — roads, bridges, power grids, nuclear facilities and dams — but also agriculture, health care, manufacturing and other categories.

In contemplating this extremely wide range of possible sources of calamity, emergency managers must work through a delicate dance with private owners of infrastructure.

In this dance, even simple definitions can be confusing.

If a substantial power outage is cause for emergency action, “how do the local government and the utility agree on the definition of ‘substantial?’ How many customers are out? What will the utility be reporting to emergency management, and what will be the emergency manager’s expectation of that?” said Charlie Fisher, vice president of crisis management consulting firm Witt Associates.

Chain of command likewise may not translate easily between public and private players. As the two work to craft an emergency plan, who will the private sector send to the table? “Is this someone who has knowledge and authority, or just a messenger?” Fisher said. “If you are sitting with the police chief and the fire chief, you want a very senior person from the utility there as well.”

In fairness, some say the burden of planning should fall on the public managers, not because it’s their designated role but because any failure in the infrastructure system will likely come from the public side.

While there may be infrastructure weaknesses all around, the private sector has a financial interest in ensuring its critical components are sound. At the same time, the public sector is notoriously underfunded and behind on its upgrades in many jurisdictions. This combination weights the scale toward a crisis coming from the public side, said Annie Searle, principal of risk assessment consultancy Annie Searle & Associates.

“The pieces on the private-sector side are in really good shape — they’ve maintained them,” Searle said. “We’re worried about the public infrastructure where the dollars may not have gone into either maintenance or improvement of the infrastructure.”

Still, it’s not an easy equation. With so many vital systems in private hands, the two sides must cooperate. This means overcoming jurisdictional vagaries, said Wendy Freitag, external affairs manager of the Washington State Military Department’s Emergency Management Division.

“They control access to it, and the government draws a line and respects that ownership,” Freitag said. This has practical implications. Take the scenario in which hurricane debris lands on private property. Government responders won’t move on that. Now suppose that private property is a reservoir, whose compromise might contaminate the water system. Jurisdictional concerns may keep responders at arm’s length.

And then there’s the money. As Freitag noted, the Stafford Act would prevent public servants from claiming federal reimbursement, should they go for a cleanup on private property. In laying plans for such an event, emergency managers must think carefully about financial ramifications.

Overall, cooperation is the key to success in dealing with public-private tensions, Freitag said. The best thing emergency planners can do is to look to the private sector as customers: Develop a sound relationship by listening to what your customers need. “Typically their priority is in having access. They want to get in, repair and restore what needs to be restored. You have to listen to that. You have to care about what they need.”

Joint training helps establish rapport. In Washington, all state certification and training classes are open to the private sector. Beyond this, communication is the final pillar. Freitag’s office uses proprietary software Public Information Emergency Response (PIER), which allows outreach to more than 400 private- and public-sector members. “The key to maintaining a private-public partnership is having some sort of a two-way communication tool,” she said.

Responding to a critical infrastructure disaster is not just a two-way street — public to private. It’s an every-way street. It’s in the nature of critical systems to be enmeshed and intertwined with a whole host of other systems and processes. A burst dam causes a flood, which takes down power, which kills the phones. Meanwhile roads wash away. The ripple effect can be staggering to emergency responders.

The Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security is ever mindful of this fact. Ever since a cataclysmic dam failure in 1976, the state has held a heightened sense of watchfulness concerning its 632 dams.

Dams are owned either by private entities, the Corps of Engineers or the Bureau of Reclamation. The owners have the primary responsibility for drawing up response plans, while the Bureau of Homeland Security follows up with training and exercises, explained bureau spokesman Robert Feeley. By their nature, those plans are far-reaching.

“There are cascading effects to any event, and that is one of the challenges of emergency management, to identify all those effects,” Feeley said. Planning begins with geography, the mapping of an inundation area likely to be hit by a dam breach. This in turn gives rise to an analysis of the power grid in each affected area. The flood maps also determine jurisdiction: Imperiled roads, for instance, are handed off to the county sheriff’s office. Evacuation plans meanwhile fall into the hands of first responder communities.

Often an emergency manager’s knowledge of interdependencies will be critical to the organization of an emergency response. Fisher described a scenario in which a hurricane took out communications to the local electric company. Both pieces needed to be brought back on line, but only one thing mattered: restoring power and communications to the EOC. Without that first step having been built into the emergency plan, no other element of response could have been carried out effectively.

The San Jose blackout described above — the result of vandalism — serves as a stark reminder that the failure of critical infrastructure need not necessarily be caused by acts of nature, or even by slapdash maintenance and restoration.

Critical infrastructure is thought by many to be a natural target of terrorists seeking to inflict harm or cause panic among a broad population. In fact, any of the 18 sectors designated as “critical” by the DHS could be vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

For public safety planners, the emergency services sector will seem especially notable. An attack there can render first responders unable to meet other concurrent challenges. For example, jurisdictions with nuclear reactors, chemical plans and dams could well be subject to coordinated attacks that first render their emergency responders unavailable, prior to a larger-scale attack.

Density also can factor into the terror equation. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command offers a range of statistics showing how a heavy concentration of resources can render a sector vulnerable. Nearly a third of U.S. hog inventories are in Iowa. Some 25 percent of all pharmaceuticals are manufactured in Puerto Rico. More than half of the banking sector is focused on lower Manhattan. The densities make for appealing targets.

For emergency planners, crafting a response around sectors with a high terrorism risk can be especially challenging, because of the confidential nature of many of these facilities. Take for, instance, the Idaho National Laboratory, a nuclear research institution. Although representatives of the lab have a seat at the table in the state’s EOC, they don’t always offer full transparency. This still is a facility that trades in highly secret information.

It’s a tricky balance, crafting a plan without seeing the full picture. “There are things we are going to know about and things we are not going to know about,” Feeley said. His office’s response is to do the best it can within the constraints. “Working from the generalities, we can develop action plans for what could happen, without having to know exactly what they are doing in this facility.”

Given the inherent limitation, the best solution has been to keep doors open. Feeley’s office reaches out to the nuclear side and administrators typically reciprocate. Representatives from the lab recently presented Feeley’s office with a briefing on lab activities.

“We appreciated that. It gave us a very good picture of what is going on there.”

The threat of terror sometimes leaves emergency managers struggling to balance the need for security against their duty to craft plans that address public safety most efficiently. They may need to risk some exposure to a terror event in the name of meaningful emergency response. That’s a fine line to walk.

Given the interdependencies and the possible ripple effect of a breach, planning for an infrastructure event demands a rigorous and well thought-out process.

One such process comes from King County, Wash., where emergency planners have broken down their approach to infrastructure into a virtual road map of response.

The plan identifies, up front, the role owners and operators play in critical infrastructure protection decision-making. Owners must help with the assessment of vulnerabilities, assess their own dependencies on other infrastructure sectors and identify ways in which government agencies can help protect their critical infrastructures.

The plan then lays out detailed risk-management processes, assigns specific roles and responsibilities, describes the procedure for sharing information and establishes a protocol for making decisions.

Planners then designate a hierarchy of concern: from energy, IT and telecom to government facilities and banking institutions, to icons, monuments and commercial facilities.

To make it possible to draw up an effective plan, the county drills down into the details of just what constitutes risk. How vulnerable is the infrastructure? What are the likely threats and their consequences? How likely is a breach? The county plan lays out precise definitions for assessing each area.

The county designates lead players, including the Regional Homeland Security Council, Critical Infrastructure Protection Work Group, local, federal and state governments, and others.

Taken together, the county’s definitions, procedures and protocols help to generate emergency plans that respond with considerable precision to the varied threats faced by critical infrastructure.

The great distinction in an infrastructure disaster always comes down to the question of interdependency, the cascade effect in which one system failure causes similar crashes down the line.

It’s a consideration that emergency planners must always keep foremost and yet there’s no simple formula to help them make those complex calculations.

“What we need now is a super-simple, easy model to use where we can map these interdependencies and see them very visually,” Freitag said.

Such a model would need to have a high degree of sophistication and would draw from multiple public and private sources. Given the complexities of the task, she said, “I think government is going to have to be the one to develop that. It’s something everybody needs.”

Read the full article at http://www.emergencymgmt.com/safety/Crumbling-Infrastructure-Challenge-Emergency-Managers.html

2012 C.E.R.T training schedule:

Academy 46 – February 9, 2012 to March 31, 2012

Academy 47 – September 6, 2012 to October 27, 2012

The Redondo Beach Fire Department C.E.R.T. Academy began in April 1996, with overwhelming success. To date, over 1000 individuals have received training. The C.E.R.T. concept is based on increasing disaster preparedness [...]]]> 2012 C.E.R.T training schedule:

Academy 46 – February 9, 2012 to March 31, 2012

Academy 47 – September 6, 2012 to October 27, 2012

The Redondo Beach Fire Department C.E.R.T. Academy began in April 1996, with overwhelming success. To date, over 1000 individuals have received training. The C.E.R.T. concept is based on increasing disaster preparedness awareness within the community by having a core group of trained individuals capable of assisting themselves, their family their neighbors and yes – your business, in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

Are you ready? Although Fire and Police emergency service personnel are the best trained and equipped to handle disasters, they will not be able to help everyone in post disaster response and recovery. You can make the difference by using the training you or your staff will receive to save lives and protect property. A team of Redondo Beach firefighter instructors provide the training and will cover topics including disaster preparedness, CPR & First Aid, disaster medical operations, damage assessment, fire suppression, light search and rescue, disaster psychology & team organization. Upon successfully completing the training, participants will be registered as a C.E.R.T. volunteer with the Redondo Beach Fire Department. Registered volunteers are required to participate in future disaster preparedness training activities to maintain their volunteer status. The fee is $40.00 per person for those that live or work in Redondo Beach, $100.00 per person for non-resident. The fee includes a designated C.E.R.T. hardhat, Two-year CPR & First Aid certification, photo identification card, training manual and graduation certificates. The C.E.R.T. Academy is taught at the Main Redondo Beach Library Thursday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and one Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. during an eight-week period.

If you are interested in participating or for additional information about the academy, please contact the Redondo Beach Fire Department at (310) 318-0663 ext. 4336 or www.redondo.org. Please note that the academy will be limited to the first 40 individuals who respond. ?Or download the application from the Redondo Beach CERT Alumni Association website at www.rbcertaa.org.

By Carolyne Krupa, amednews staff

The country has made significant strides since the 2001 terrorist attacks in the ability of physicians, hospitals, health departments and others to respond to [...]]]> Reductions in public health budgets at the federal, state and local levels threaten to further weaken disaster response, a report says.

By Carolyne Krupa, amednews staff

The country has made significant strides since the 2001 terrorist attacks in the ability of physicians, hospitals, health departments and others to respond to disasters. But that progress is being undermined by government budget cuts, says a report looking at America’s preparedness for public health emergencies.

That is the conclusion of the ninth annual report, released Dec. 20, 2011, by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, focusing on the potential consequences of looming budget cuts at the federal, state and local levels. The report said those cuts threaten to unravel a decade’s worth of progress made bolstering the nation’s ability to respond to bioterrorist attacks, disease outbreaks or other disasters.

“The economic crisis has changed the story,” said Jeffrey Levi, PhD, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health. “The Great Recession is taking its toll on emergency preparedness.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has provided more than $7 billion in preparedness funding to states and cities since Sept. 11, 2001. But the report said that CDC cuts proposed for the fiscal year 2012 federal budget mean 51 of 72 cities are at risk of losing money to support rapid distribution of vaccines and medicines. Twenty-four states could lose CDC money for field office epidemiologists who help respond to disease outbreaks and disasters, and the nation’s 10 state labs with the ability to test for chemical threats are in danger of losing their Level 1 status due to the proposed CDC budget reductions.

Proposed federal budget cuts would mean a loss of $72 million to CDC public health emergency preparedness grants between fiscal years 2010 and 2012, said the report (healthyamericans.org/assets/files/TFAH2011ReadyorNot_09.pdf).

Cuts at the state level

Many states have targeted public health funds in recent years. Nearly 15,000 state health department jobs and 34,400 local health department jobs have been lost to budget cuts since 2008.

Forty states and the District of Columbia have cut public health funds in the past year, the report said. Thirty states cut their budgets for a second year in a row, and 15 have done so for three consecutive years.

Between fiscal 2010 and 2011, 41 states had cuts in preparedness support through the CDC public health emergency and preparedness grants, and all 50 states and the District of Columbia faced reductions in their CDC hospital preparedness program funding.

In Oregon, federal emergency preparedness dollars have helped state officials respond to E. coli outbreaks and the A(H1N1) pandemic, said Mel Kohn, MD, MPH, Oregon’s state health officer and the Oregon Health Authority’s director of public health. But the state’s preparedness funding fell about 11% in 2011.

“If we have another 10% to 11% reduction, it is going to have serious consequences for our ability to respond to an event,” he said.

The report recommends that the federal government provide dedicated emergency preparedness funding, such as giving states more flexible, multiyear grants. Other priorities should include modernizing biosurveillance to quickly detect and track bioterrorism attacks or disease outbreaks, improving the country’s vaccine research and manufacturing capabilities, and enhancing the ability of the nation’s health care system to care for an influx of patients during an emergency.

The CDC did not respond to the report. In the Sept. 3, 2011, issue of The Lancet, Ali S. Khan, MD, MPH, director of CDC’s Organization Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, said the loss of more than 44,000 public health jobs since 2008 threatens the nation’s ability to respond to disasters (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21890060/).

“Americans expect the public health system to have the capability to competently protect their health during emergencies,” Dr. Kohn said. “This is not an optional service. It’s about life-and-death circumstances.”

COPE Preparedness suggests that assembling a disaster-preparedness kit can be fun!

We all know that those New Years resolutions make it to about the third week in January and then are forgotten as quickly as they are made. Maybe if we could make one of those resolutions just a little more fun, [...]]]> COPE Preparedness suggests that assembling a disaster-preparedness kit can be fun!

We all know that those New Years resolutions make it to about the third week in January and then are forgotten as quickly as they are made. Maybe if we could make one of those resolutions just a little more fun, it would be something we could follow through with.

Preparing a disaster supply kit is like going to the dentist: You know how important it is, but you put if off because it really isn’t that much fun. What if we could make this important, but often overlooked, part of your family insurance plan just a little more fun?

Think in terms of hosting a  Preparedness Party. Think Tupperware without the hard sell. Show your friends and neighbors how to make their own low-cost preparedness kit to store in their vehicles and homes. The only thing we ask is that you invite people to your own “preparedness potluck” in which your guests bring disaster-kit items instead of dinner dishes.

For example, someone may bring 10 flashlights while another guest brings 10 boxes of bandages. Each guest needs to bring a bucket or bag to the party, and then items are exchanged so that all who attend have at least a good start to their emergency kits.

This is an easy way to not just cross your fingers and hope that you and your family are prepared during an emergency in our community. A prepared community is a safer community in which we all can live.

The latest investigative report on the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, released Wednesday, is an important reminder of industry’s past carelessness and a summons to vigilance in the future. It could not have been more timely, coming just as the Interior Department was concluding its first auction of new [...]]]> The latest investigative report on the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, released Wednesday, is an important reminder of industry’s past carelessness and a summons to vigilance in the future. It could not have been more timely, coming just as the Interior Department was concluding its first auction of new drilling leases in the gulf since the spill.