FRANKLIN COUNTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 1

Agency Update

• FCEM&HS Regional JEOC Functional Exercise• Proposed 2013 Goals

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 2

FCEM&HS Regional JEOC

Functional Exercise

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 3

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise

• Franklin County Emergency Management & Homeland Security Held a Regional Emergency Operations Center Functional Exercise on November 15, 2012 to validate the Emergency Operation Plans (EOPs) of both Franklin and Fairfield Counties and evaluate current response concepts, plans, and capabilities for a response to a terrorist incident. The exercise was developed and evaluated using objectives that were identified by a Central Ohio Regional Planning Team and selected from the State of Ohio’s Terrorism Exercise and Evaluation Manual (EEM).

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 4

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise

The State of Ohio Terrorism EEM has been cross-walked to the exercise evaluation methodology required by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (US DHS) for exercises conducted under the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).

• The exercise was based on multiple attacks executed concurrently at three schools, during Football Friday Night. Each attack resulted in numerous causalities, fires, primary/secondary device explosions and hostage situations.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 5

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise Exercise Planning Team• Bob Blackburn, Pickerington Local Schools• Kurt Blevins, Groveport Police• Matt Delp, Pickerington Police• Steve Flowers, Federal Bureau of Investigations• Lee Foster, ARMADA• Ron Gray, Columbus Division of Police• Jon Kochis, Fairfield County Emergency Management & Homeland

Security• Darrel Koerber, Franklin County Emergency Management &

Homeland Security

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 6

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise Exercise Planning Team • Mike McNutt, Columbus Public Health• Tim McVey, Columbus Division of Police• John Moore, Deaf Services Center• Rich Playko, Groveport Madison Schools• Jeff Podracky, ARMADA• Ralph Portier, Groveport Police• Tim Root, Strategic Analysis Information Center• Pam Tickle, Franklin County Emergency Management & Homeland

Security• Steve Tucker, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 7

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 8

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise Exercise Participants

ADAMH Fairfield County Sheriff’s OfficeAmerican Red Cross Fairfield Medical CenterCentral Ohio Amateur Radio Franklin County CommissionersCentral Ohio Transit Authority Franklin County EM&HSCentral Ohio Trauma System Franklin County Public HealthColumbus Fire/HazMat – 4 Franklin County Office on AgingColumbus Police HandsOn Central Ohio City of Columbus – Public Service Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)Franklin County (CERT) NAS-TDeaf Services Center Ohio VOADFairfield County EM&HS SAICFairfield County Engineers Ohio State University Communications

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise Exercise Objectives:• Critical Resource Logistics and Distribution: Demonstrate the

capability to identify, dispatch, mobilize/demobilizes and accurately track/record available critical resources throughout all incident management phases as outlined in the jurisdiction’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) and emergency operations plans (EOPs).

• Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Management: Demonstrate the ability to activate, staff, and manage an Emergency Operations Center to coordinate and support a multi-agency response to a catastrophic incident.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 9

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise Exercise Objectives:• Emergency Public Information and Warning: Demonstrate the

capability to develop, coordinate, and disseminate accurate alerts and information to the media and the public during an emergency as outlined in the jurisdiction’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) and emergency operations plans (EOPs).

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 10

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise • According to the Exercise Evaluation Team, FCEM&HS met all

of the evaluated objectives, and the Functional Exercise provided an opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of EOPs, Standard Operating Guidelines (SOGs), and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The Franklin County JEOC performed extremely well and the Functional Exercise validated the Franklin County JEOC’s ability to respond quickly and coordinate a complex emergency response to a disaster.

• Subsequent exercises should test specific improvements instituted as a result of this exercise and should include a focus on additional drills and exercises to routinely test and enhance FCEM&HS EOPs.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 11

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise Exercise Strengths:• With regards to the actual JEOC evaluation, there were several

positive areas identified by the evaluator. Most notable was the overall representation of various government and nonprofit organizations. Chain of command was also noted as a positive for the exercise. It was clear to the evaluator that Director Pannell was in charge of operations and did an outstanding job of keeping Commissioners, the County Administrator and other elected officials updated with appropriate information. A final positive noted by the evaluator was the overall accommodations provided by the FCEMHS JEOC. The overall environment and technology allows for a more than adequate work space.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 12

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise Exercise Strengths:• FCEM&HS displayed an exhaustive list of available resources,

locations and contact information. • FCEM&HS has invested significant resources to updating their

respective Joint Emergency Operations Centers. • The Evaluation Team stated the FCEM&HS Public Information

Officer acted in a professional manner and did a commendable job in preparing FCEM&HS Director for the initial press conference.

• The FCEM&HS Public Information Officer used and understood the basic components of managing a social media response.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 13

Regional JEOC Functional Exercise Exercise Opportunities for Improvement:• Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security would benefit

from researching the appropriateness of updating its telecommunications bandwidth.

• Provide adequate manpower to ensure significant events logs are kept up to date in WebEOC. This will help to maintain a consistent Common Operational Picture.

• Provide multiple training opportunities for all JEOC personnel to include WebEOC, phone routing and sharing of classified information.

• Consider available avenues to ensure county Emergency Management and Homeland Security officials have access to appropriate event intelligence, both before and during the event.

• While public information staff in both counties used and understand Twitter, increasing education and understanding of effective social media strategies would benefit future, real world response efforts.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 14

FCEM&HS 2013 Goals

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 15

2013 Goals Highlighted below are some of the projects FCEM&HS will focuson in 2013:

Warning Systems• FCEM&HS will expand the Franklin County Outdoor Warning

System by adding 14 new and 2 replacement outdoor warning sirens. FCEM&HS received UASI grant funds to purchase 8 new outdoor warning sirens and the City of Columbus will purchase 6 new outdoor sirens. Franklin County will have a total of 195 outdoor warning sirens operational by spring 2013. Three sirens are also scheduled to receive Front Panel Upgrades.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 16

2013 Goals Emergency Operations Center• Continue improvements to the Joint Emergency Operations

Center which include enhancing communications equipment and updating standard operating procedures.

• Improve technological capabilities to the Training Room/ Joint Information Center (JIC) by installing new computers, preview/touch monitors, enhanced control systems, SmartBoards, and communication systems.

• Enhanced improvements to WebEOC, an incident and event management system for emergency managers and first responders.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 17

2013 Goals Resources• FCEM&HS will continue to bolster the resource data base

system, IRIS, with accurate information pertaining to resources distributed throughout and surrounding the region. Utilize the “Gap Analysis” mentality to ensure resource item locations are identified to ensure timely response to identified risks in FC. Work closely with the P-TAC Center on the significant initiative to integrate the IRIS database into WebEOC.

• FCEM&HS will develop the FC Points of Distribution (PODs) program. Ensuring that during extreme incidents basic necessities such as water, food, and ice “pushed” from the state or FEMA has a mechanism to get into the hands of our citizens in need.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 18

2013 GoalsResources (cont’d)• FCEM&HS will continue the planning and development of

County Logistics Support Areas (CLSA). During major incidents such as Hurricane Sandy, these preplanned locations provide a location for the state and FEMA to “Push” equipment, supplies, and personnel needed to respond to these significant events.

Recovery• FCEM&HS will complete the enhancement of Emergency

Support Function #14 (ESF 14)- Recovery and Mitigation to include updated guidance and concepts reflected in the FEMA National Disaster Recovery Framework.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 19

2013 GoalsPlanning• FCEM&HS will complete a comprehensive Capability

Assessment and Gap Analysis to determine priority capabilities and identify gaps in preparedness.

• FCEM&HS will complete the 2013 Enhanced Risk Assessment based on findings identified during the process.

• FCEM&HS will hold the very first Decision Maker Workshop to bring together elected officials and decision makers from throughout the county to discuss the risks, capabilities, and gaps that impact communities within Franklin County.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 20

2013 GoalsPlanning (con’t)• FCEM&HS will develop an IRM Guide that can be

disseminated by OEMA to help local governments implement Integrated Risk Management at the local level.

Training• FCEM&HS will develop an online Training and Exercise Portal

to catalog, coordinate, de-conflict, and archive training and exercise information for Franklin County as well as throughout the MSA Region.

• FCEM&HS will host the County’s annual Training and Exercise Planning Workshop (TEPW) and update the Multi-Year Training and Exercise Plan.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 21

2013 GoalsTraining (con’t)• FCEM&HS will continue to coordinate and host pertinent

trainings for first responders identified by the Franklin County T&E and RTEC Committees.

Exercises• FCEM&HS will coordinate and develop a Full-scale Exercise

with several schools and emergency response partners to meet Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) requirements for the county.

• FCEM&HS will hold a Regional EOC Functional Exercise with seven counties in the MSA to work on coordination and communication in response to a simulated large scale incident.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 22

2013 GoalsCitizen Preparedness• FCEM&HS will continue to focus on Operation Flood Fight by

purchasing Operation Flood Fight equipment and plan completion by late summer. Historic river stages for the Scioto river generally occur between late December until late March due to snow and ice melt. FCEM&HS will conduct trainings in late fall in anticipation of the need for volunteers.

• FCEM&HS will continue to develop the Damage Assessment Operations Plan in 2013, Damage Assessment trainings will be conducted in early spring in anticipation of tornadoes.

• FCEM&HS will continue to conduct 4 CERT Basic Trainings next year and purchase CERT equipment with remaining CERT funds.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 23

2013 Goals Grants• As soon as guidance is received; FCEM&HS will work on the

FY2013 SHSP Competitive Grant Application.• FCEM&HS will continue to explore avenues to obtain a

countywide Mass Notification System.

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 24

QUESTIONS / DISCUSSION

Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security

16 JANUARY 2013 BRIEF TO EXCOMM 25