For the State EOC, multiple forms of alternate communications were successfully used but procedures for effective interaction between the radio room and operations floor had to be improvised on the first day of the exercise.Īt the state level, the successful employment of satellite phones, particularly among key leadership was inconsistent. Some jurisdiction emergency management agencies are equipped with back-up forms of communication, with sufficiently trained staff, while others identified emergency communications as an area of improvement either due to lack of equipment, procedures, or training. Several local jurisdictions and the State EOC operated for a period of time without telephones or web-based communications (email, web pages, cloud services). Importance of CERT and light rescue teams to Urban Search and Rescue.ġ.Emergency coordination centers are not prepared to operate in a degraded communications environment over an extended period.Īnalysis: The exercise placed a focus on operating in a severely degraded communications environment which is expected based on the damages modeled to telephone and web-based infrastructure in Western Washington. The ability of the SEOC to collect and process information and act on it was overwhelmed. There is no long-term recovery strategy or plan The state’s transportation, communication, and energy networks which are essential to enable a catastrophic response and thus, saving and sustaining lives, are not survivable The clock is ticking to a humanitarian disaster. Cascadia Rising proved this approach is grossly inadequate This is commonly referred to as a “pull” system, here the highest level of government pulls up only requests for support in order to respond. Once the local level and mutual aid is overwhelmed, requests for support are elevated to the county, then state, and if required to the federal level. The typical response to incidents and disasters begins at the local level –dispatch, fire, law enforcement, public works, etc.
There is an urgent need for residents to prepareĭespite the ongoing public education efforts and community preparedness programs, our families, communities, schools, hospitals, and businesses are not prepared for the catastrophic disaster that a worst-case CSZ earthquake would cause. That exercise practiced a response to 9 magnitude Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. Washington State has posted a “Final Draft” AAR (pdf) for the Cascadia Rising exercise held in June of this year.
0 kommentar(er)
