FOR OFFICIAL USE
ONLY
Emergency Response Group
Serving the citizens and first responders of
Crawford, Erie , Forest, Venango, Warren Counties
and the City of Erie
FOR OFFICIAL USE
ONLY
Emergency Response Group
NW PA ERG – 2 is recognized under Pennsylvania State Law Act 227 as one of the nine Regional Emergency Response Groups in the Commonwealth. (map on last page) NW PA ERG covers a population of 477,583 people, over 4,608 square mile area, comprising of 156 municipalities. Counter Terrorism was the main emphasis in the late 1990’s but now in 2008 the emphasis has changed to all-hazards emergency preparedness.
What once started as the six emergency management directors meeting around a table in Erie County Emergency Operations Center in 1998 to administer funding and projects, has grown to a functional regional group which provides a venue for agencies to meet and work as a group filling the 72 hour void between local agencies arriving on-scene and assistance from the state agencies.
Meetings are held every second Tuesday of the month at the Vernon Central Volunteer Hose Company 16589 McMath Avenue, Meadville, PA 16335, in Crawford County with some Subcommittee meeting at 9:00 AM and Executive Committee with State and Federal Partners at 10:00 AM.
Major full-scale exercises in the
Region have involved the Erie Bayfront WMD Exercise, Regional Pandemic
Exercise, and Erie International Airport Mass Casualty Exercises. NW PA ERG sent its Incident Management Team
to a large-scale body recovery operation in
Equipment
& Other requests from agencies are reviewed by Subcommittees first and then
reviewed by the Executive Board for approval/disapproval according to regional,
state, and federal requirements.
Allen Clark, Crawford
Chairman 814-724-2552
Dale Robinson,
Vice Chair 814-451-7920
Tom Sherman, Venango EMA
Board Member 814-677-7256
Bruce Eicher,
Board Member 814-870-1400
Terry Campbell,
Board Member 814-723-7553
Jack Kennedy, Forest
Board Member
David Rockwell, ERG Manager
814-725-6382 Phone
814-725-6107 Fax
Over
the past year the Executive Committee under Past Chairman Tom Sherman’s
leadership have addressed several issues involving reorganization, hiring a
fiduciary contractor, hiring a managing contractor, conducting financial
audits, and administering grants for planning, training, exercise, ERG
administration, and equipment.
In 2008 the ERG Executive
Committee will be: reviewing and
revising the By-Laws, updating Contact information for Executive Board and
Subcommittees, working with Subcommittees in accomplishing their goals and
State requirements in planning, training, exercises, strategic national
stockpile requirements, IMT, Decon, and USAR Team requirements, and providing
support to the first responder agencies in accomplishing their daily operations
and functions. Below is a photo of the
Regional Elected Officials Briefing held in
Executive Committee meets the second Tuesday of each month at 10:00 AM at Vernon Central Vol. Fire Department.
The NWPA ERG
Communications Subcommittee has been working on several regional communications
projects in FY2007 to enhance our interoperable communications capabilities
throughout
The communications subcommittee has worked with the PA StarNet (Radio Project Office) in the procurement of six (6) VTAC mobile radio repeaters, which will allow our region to be interoperable with State Agencies on the Statewide 800 MHz Radio System. The VTAC radios have the capability to function as a repeater to improve communications in a tactical field environment.
In an effort to improve communications between the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the dispatch centers of all five (5) counties, the communications committee is in the procurement process of two (2) 42" LCD Monitors to be placed in each emergency operations center to allow for the on-screen display of active incidents in real-time.
In addition to the above mentioned projects of 2007 as
related to the communications subcommittee were various requests for base
stations, repeaters and end-user equipment deployed to all five counties,
including the City of
Goals and Objectives 2008:
Training 2008:
Subcommittee meets the 1st Thursday or Friday of each month from Noon to 2:00 PM at The Dutch Treat, Spartansburg
Several people from the Region
have attended advanced terrorism training at
In 2008 training will be geared
to the first responder in the field.
Several exercises will be planned in the counties and through out the
region including the March annual severe weather exercise,
Subcommittee meets even months at 9:00 AM at the Vernon Central Vol. Fire Department.
The
operations committee has conducted a re-organization in 2007 and a plans
review. The Committee's goal for 2008 will be to:
Update NWPAERG Plans to incorporate the IMT, USAR Company and Decon
teams. Will also update the plan to ensure NIMS/ICS terminology and
practices. To incorporate the features
of the
Subcommittee meets at 9:00AM the 2nd
Tuesday of each month at
The
individual hospitals that are part of the Health and Medical committee
participated in a Pansurge Hospital Exercise in the spring of 2007. This tabletop/computer exercise assisted each
facility in determining the relevancy of its' panflu plan and areas for further
development. The committee continues to
develop lines of communication between participating hospitals and the rest of
the
first
responder community. A major goal for
2008 is to develop a website in conjunction with the NWPAERG that will enable
the health committee to post minutes, meeting notices, information on disease
outbreaks, and an equipment resource page.
The current chairperson is Rich Knecht of the Erie County Department of
Health, with an election for a new chair and vice chair scheduled for January
9th. The permanent members of the
committee are the 11 hospitals in the region:
The committee meets every 2 months on the 2nd Wednesday of the odd
month at
Jim
Wetzel,
Fire and Rescue Subcommittee continues to review requests for the USAR Team and other fire department equipment requests. They will be evaluating the foam capability in the Region and identifying shortages to be enhanced by additional equipment. A couple requests for watercrafts were reviewed, approved, and forwarded to PEMA for final consideration. MSA Orion Multigas Four Gas Meters were given to every fire department in the Region. Additional people are needed to participate on this Subcommittee.
Meetings are held at 9AM 2nd Tuesday
of each month at
This is a new Subcommittee and they continue to evaluate and support the two state certified hazardous materials response teams in the region through equipment and training. Additional people are needed to participate on this Subcommittee.
Meetings are held at 9AM 2nd
Tuesday of each month at
The
Cyber-Terrorism Committee continues to posture itself to be able to assist the
entire Regional Counter-Terrorism Task Force by insuring that an adequate
number of trained computer forensic examiners exist to analyze computers and
cellular telephones seized from terror suspects, advise other committees and
executive board members on the use of technology, and educate the public sector
on securing home computers, networks and their corner of cyberspace.
For 2007 the Cyber-Terrorism committee was involved in the presentation
of nine public information programs at schools and private groups. Forensic
examiners also conducted numerous examinations of computers, computer media and
cellular telephones for law enforcement investigations.
During 2008 the Cyber-Terrorism Committee is planning to conduct a one
day seminar on cyber terror and cyber warfare issues and will be requesting
training funds from the Regional Counter-Terrorism Task Force for continued
computer training for members of the committee.
State Police Trooper Rob Pearson agreed to be the vice chair. No
set meeting schedule. Meet on a needs
basis.
Over the past years equipment and training funds have been awarded to Erie
County Bomb Squad, Erie City Police, Millcreek Police Department, Conneaut Lake
Regional Police Department, Warren County Sheriff, Crawford County Adult
Probation, Meadville City Police, Erie International Airport Police and many
other law enforcement agencies.
Millennium Mask Kits were given to every law enforcement agency in the
Region. Additional people are needed to
participate on this subcommittee.
Subcommittee meets at 9:00AM the 2nd
Tuesday of each month at
The plan for
2008 includes reaching out to PIO's in other agencies and forming a panel to
deal with public relations issues in a collaborative manner both for incident
management as well as increasing public awareness of the Committee and its
functions. The first step will be to sit
down with other PIO’s in the Region to develop a plan of action.
The meeting
is planned for February 2008.
Agriculture Debbie Meyers, Crawford CART
During 2007, members of Crawford CART have participated in the
following hands-on animal trainings: June 9/10, 2007 - Large Animal Rescue
Training held at the Crawford County Fairgrounds July 9, 2007 - Caged Bird
Emergency Rescue Training held at Perkins Restaurant, Meadville, PA July 31,
2007 - Barn Fire Large Animal Rescue Training held at the Crawford County
Fairgrounds by the Large Animal Coordinator, Dave Allman. November 11, 2007 -
Introduction to Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation held at Tamarack Wildlife
Rehabilitation and
Goals for 2008: As a group, we will be meeting in January and setting
our goals for 2008. We know at this time that they will include more hands-on
training. On April 25, 26, and 27, Dave Allman, Large Animal coordinator, will
be cooperating with the Venango/Forest CART to offer a three-day large and
small animal training event, which will involve a variety of real life
situations. We also hope to provide some training on the handling of reptiles
in 2008. We need to provide and develop
materials to hand out to the public to create awareness of CART and awareness
of safety issues for domestic animals, horses /donkeys/mules, and for
livestock. We will also be looking at further equipment needs such as an
upgraded large animal dual axle trailer, a generator, lights and other items
needed to provide response to animal emergency situations which may be away
from electricity or shelter.
USAR Strike Team – 4 Dan Palmer,
In 2007, PA
Company 4 (PA-CO4) of the PA Regional Urban Search & Rescue System had
several extremely significant achievements. After finally gaining access to the
region's structural collapse trailer in June, we were able to begin to organize
and make useful a basic equipment cache. In August, we had our first mock
Activation Exercise and our first detailed onsite evaluation by the state
US&R task force (PA-TF1). Both these events pointed out opportunities for
improvement that, if left unaddressed, would have handicapped our ability to
deploy and perform rescue work. PA-TF1 also delivered our state-provided
equipment cache at the time of our evaluation. We were also able to add three
new members from the Meadville Fire Dept. to our unit. This brings us closer to
filling out our roster. At the end of August, PA-CO4 had its first Activation
for standby rescue at the Little League World Series in
In 2008, PA-CO4 hopes to meet several important goals. We hope to bring
our Advisory Committee fully online in January. We also hope to present a
request to purchase and equip a heavy crew cab pick-up truck and modification
of the current Erie Fire Dept. WMD trailer at the January TTF meeting. This new
truck and modified trailer would allow us to move our specified ten person
deployment roster and move our full equipment cache. This would also significantly
upgrade the WMD capacity of PA-CO4 and the region. We also hope to receive
our provisional certification from the state in January. PA-TF1 is currently
working on financing for a 36-hour rescue exercise for us in 2007. Successful
completion of this exercise should complete our full certification as a
regional US&R company. This is something many of us have worked long and
hard on and will bring us to the level the rest of the state currently
enjoys. We also expect to submit a proposal for a full-scale regional
exercise to involve the regional US&R, DMAT, and IMT units along with
local-level responders and hospitals. We hope to test and exercise our region's
rescue,
Incident Mgt. Team Bob Mitchell,
Two
Thousand Seven was a very productive year for the IMT in Region 2. We
formalized the Standard operating guidelines, (SOG’s) worked on developing
and distributing a Mou for the employer of members. Developed a
notification / dispatch system through UPMC Pittsburgh We continued to
obtain additional membership and generated interest in continuing IMT
training. We continue to obtain needed resources for operational needs. We did
receive most of the uniform. Our IMT was
activated this year for an incident in
Decontamination Team Tim Crotty,
Another new
Team created in the Region mandated by the state and federal requirements. A lot of decontamination equipment and
trailers have been purchased in the Region including the Zumro Decontamination
Tent. Further operating guidelines,
equipment, training, recruitment of personnel, and exercises will be planned
for 2008 through out the Region. If
anyone is interested please contact Mr. Tim Crotty.
Meetings are held at 9:00AM 2nd Tuesday of each month at
The GIS subcommittee’s goal is to provide a regional GIS
knowledge base that will enable the NWPAERG to create, publish, and access
geographic and associated data sets for strategic planning or tactical
operations as needed.
Substantial progress was made in 2007. The computers and software for the shelter
layer project were delivered to the American Red Cross. Dana Beck has been working with the American
Red Cross to develop a database to enter the shelter information. Early in the year two servers that will host
the GIS Enterprise were delivered to Erie County 911 center. In June a representative from ESRI traveled
to
In 2008 it is planned to complete Stage II – Perimeter Network, at
that point the GIS Enterprise will be assessable to everyone through the web
site www.nwpaerg.com. The project will be a continuous evolution of
the Web site catering to the needs and requests of the various entities within
the NWPAERG. Also, the ARC database will be completed and the voluntaries will
be trained to enter data. When all the
shelter information is collected it will be given a geospatial component and
loaded as a layer in the Web Enterprise.
The PAMAGIC (PA Mapping and Geographic Information
Consortium) board has undertaken an effort to gather information on projects
being developed throughout the state that combine data from multiple
municipalities. Our project will be among a 7-project panel
discussion being put together by PaMagic for the upcoming PA GIS
Conference. Most of the meetings are held at the NW
Commission building in
Our next meeting will probable be in March, it has not been scheduled
as yet.
SNS Project Phil Steele, Contractor
The SNS project continues to progress albeit slow. The plan should have been in the executive committee hands prior to now and will be soon. It is my goal for the committee to roll out the plan to all Push sites and PODS in early 2008 with on site awareness training to all sites, with an exercise late spring or early fall.
The
The
Some of the key functions are:
Confidential messaging between users logged into the system, which is similar to e-mail.
Mapping with GIS capabilities and ability to identify vulnerable facilities within in a user created radius and identify the closest resources to an incident.
Resource inventory and request
management tool of people, facilities, equipment, and supplies in
Event action logs with detailed and time stamped records management, which is NIMS compliant.
Resources of web-links to weather, cameras, state and federal sites.
Emergency Support Function’s checklists and NIMS forms that document actions taken during an incident and generated reports using ICS Formats.
SARA Tier II chemical facility inventory and emergency contact information for chemical emergencies.
This links all public safety together using the same notification system and a one-stop directory for resources that may be available in the event disasters overwhelm local and county public safety agencies.
1st Quarter Equipment Request Deadlines
and Meeting Dates
February 12 9AM Some ERG Subcommittee
Meetings
10AM ERG Executive Committee Meeting
March 11 9AM Some ERG Subcommittee
Meetings
10AM ERG Executive Committee Meeting
4:30 PM Equipment Request Submission Deadline from requesting entities to the ERG Manager.
April 1 Subcommittee Deadline to forward approved equipment requests back to the ERG Manager.
April 8 9AM Some ERG Subcommittee
Meetings
10AM ERG Executive Committee Meeting
Equipment
Request Forms and Training Request Forms can be obtained and returned to
the ERG Manager, David Rockwell at: drockwell@mercyhurst.edu
Listing
of approved equipment list can be found at: www.rkb.us
Listing of approved training can be found at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/training_catalog.htm