3-14-16 Handout- Chief Deal Emergency Preparedness J eL_;, CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT
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MEMORANDUM
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POLICE
TO : Nelson Van Liere , City Manager
FROM : J . Michael Deal , Chief of Police
DATE : March 14 , 2016
RE : Staff Report - Emergency Preparedness
ISSUE
City Commissioner John Stinson has submitted a formal request for a briefing by the City Manager
and staff regarding detail aspects of the City's Emergency Management plan for any and all
contingencies or possible emergency incidents . A briefing is requested prior to the start of the 2016
defined hurricane season . In his request, Commissioner Stinson outlines specific concerns and
recommendations regarding the City' s Emergency Management plan . (See Attached Report)
BACKGROUND
The City Manager and I have been in our current positions a little over a year. As the City' s Director
of Public Safety, I also serve as the City's Emergency Manager. During my law enforcement career,
I have received training in emergency management to include all of the required National Incident
Management ( NIMS ) and Incident Command Systems ( ICS ) training . Police Commander Victor
Gualillo who has served the City of Atlantic Beach for 25 years , has also received training in
emergency management and the required training in NIMS and ICS . Commander Gualillo has
actually been the resident expert and "go to" person on emergency management for the City of
Atlantic Beach , and has been instrumental in all of our emergency management efforts and training .
His knowledge of emergency management and understanding of the emergency management
structure and policies in this area are an asset to the City of Atlantic Beach .
As discussed in a meeting with Commissioner Stinson on Wednesday, February 24 , 2016 , the Duval
County Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) and the Atlantic Beach Municipal
Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan ( MCEMP) are currently in place and available on our
City' s Webpage . The Duval County CEMP covers the entire county to include the Beaches . Both are
very broad comprehensive plans that provide the framework and policy for our emergency
management system . These plans are not designed as a guide or operational plan for specific
hazards or disasters .
City of Atlantic Beach - Emergency Preparedness
Page 2
There are Hazard Specific Plans ( HSP ) and Interagency Coordinating Procedures ( ICP) available that
are designed for personnel to utilize in planning for a particular hazard or emergency. HSPs and ICPs
are prepared and updated annually by the City of Jacksonville' s Division of Emergency
Preparedness , and provided to all the Cities in Duval County for planning , training , and use in an
actual hazard or emergency.
Hazard Specific Plans include plans for
Civil Unrest
Flooding
Hazmat
Infectious Disease
Terrorism
Severe Weather
Mass Casualty
Interagency Coordinating Procedures include :
EOC Management
Search & Rescue
Communication
Public Information
Evacuation
Traffic Management
Food Management
Resource Management
Hospital Evacuation
Finance Administration
Damage Assessment
Fuel Management
Special Needs
Law Enforcement
Debris Management
Transportation
Utilities
Public Works
City of Atlantic Beach - Emergency Preparedness
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Our City' s Emergency Management Team operates under the Incident Command System ( ICS ) . The
Command Structure has the City Manager or his designee serving as the Incident Commander.
Department Directors serve in different roles that include Planning , Operations , Logistics , Finance ,
and IT. Each Department Director has a back-up , and other city staff have been identified to handle
various functions to include serving as the Public Information Officer, the Liaison with the Emergency
Operations Center in Jacksonville , someone to track personnel and expenditures, and damage
assessments teams .
The Mayor and Elected Officials role in emergency preparedness include a knowledge and
understanding of the National Incident Management System ( NIMS ) and the Incident Command
System ( ICS ) that are currently in place at Local , County, State , and Federal levels . The
commissioner' s ability to communicate with our citizens on how our emergency management process
works and that we do in fact have a plan , will assist us tremendously in our efforts to educate our
citizens .
During actual times of an emergency, elected officials need to be available in order to meet and
declare a local state of emergency if necessary. During County-wide emergencies , the City of
Atlantic Beach Mayor or Mayor Pro tern will be asked to occupy a seat at the Emergency Operations
Center ( EOC) in Jacksonville where a joint decision will be made by all the Mayors in Duval County
regarding a declaration of a county wide emergency and the subsequent need to evacuate .
The Mayor and Elected officials should also understand the priority of operations during any
emergency. These priorities are :
1 . Establishing communication
2 . Search and Rescue
3 . Meet basic human needs ( medical , water, food , shelter)
4 . Restore critical infrastructure
5 . Begin recovery process
City of Atlantic Beach - Emergency Preparedness
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ANALYSIS
Staff understands and validates the concerns expressed by Commissioner Stinson . We also agree
that preparation , planning , assessment and practice for all hazards are essential to emergency
preparedness . Clearly, there is room for improvement in our emergency preparedness efforts and we
credit Commission Stinson for his desire and passion to move to the next level .
While emergency management is a critical component of keeping our City and citizens safe , the
amount of staff time and resources available in the City to actually spend on emergency management
is inadequate . In light of our limitations and the fact that we do not have a dedicated emergency
manager on staff orchestrating our efforts , we have done a pretty good job preparing for hurricanes ,
developing in-house plans , encouraging participation in the National Incident Management ( NIMS )
and Incident Command Systems ( ICS ) training , developing partnerships with Duval County
Emergency Management, participating in the Duval County Local Mitigation Strategy and Threat
Assessment committees and attending annual tabletop exercises at the beaches and for Duval
County.
STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS
On March 3 , 2016 , Commander Gualillo and I met with Steve Woodard , the Director of Emergency
Preparedness for the City of Jacksonville . Director Woodard , is a retired deputy assistant
administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency ( FEMA) and has served in leadership
roles for more than sixty response operations for national level disasters and incidents . Director
Woodard and his staff are committed to providing our city with the expertise and resources needed
during any emergency, and have eagerly offered to assist us in our emergency planning ,
assessment, and practice . Based on this meeting , staff recommends the following :
1 . Take advantage of the expertise , resources , funding , and training opportunities provided by the
City of Jacksonville Division of Emergency Management. Chief Woodard has a full time staff
that does nothing but emergency management and preparedness for the entire county.
2 . Provide the City of Atlantic Beach Mayor and Commissioners with a tour of the Emergency
Operations Center in Jacksonville where they can see the facilities and resources in place .
They will be given an overview of the county's role in assisting our city in the event of an
emergency situation .
3 . Provide Mayor and Commissioners with a 2 to 3 hour block of training on the Role of Elected
Officials during a Disaster.
4 . Provide handouts and literature for our citizens on emergency preparedness , evacuations , and
what to do during a disaster or other emergency.
City of Atlantic Beach - Emergency Preparedness
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5 . Update our social media networks to provide our citizens critical information on emergency
planning and preparedness .
6 . Encourage our citizens to sign up for CodeRed to receive severe weather and other alerts
regarding emergencies and hazards .
7 . Participate in county-wide table top exercises and drills . Currently, the Division of Emergency
Preparedness conducts 2 to 3 workshops or table top exercises a year on different types of
hazards and emergencies . Since the City of Atlantic Beach , in most cases will provide and
rely on assistance from our neighboring cities during an actual emergency, it is important for as
to prepare and train with our neighbors as a unified team . The Division of Emergency
Preparedness has the funding , the resources , and the expertise to plan and facilitate this
training .
On January 14 , 2016 , we attended an emergency preparedness meeting at the Jacksonville
Beach Police Department. Representatives from the Atlantic Beach Police Department, City of
Jacksonville Division of Emergency Preparedness , the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office ,
Jacksonville Beach Police Department, Neptune Beach Police Department, and NAS Mayport
were all in attendance . The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the importance of our
agencies working collectively as a team for all emergency situations impacting the beaches
area . As a result of this meeting , a pre-hurricane season workshop and table top exercise are
being planned for May and the early part of summer of this year.
8 . Staff to meet quarterly ( monthly during hurricane season ) to review and ensure that our
individual plans and command structure are up to date . Outside of hurricane season , we will
review and discuss other Hazard Specific Plans and Interagency Coordinating Procedures .
These meetings will allow us the opportunity to make any plan adjustments or alterations
necessary to meet our individual needs in the City of Atlantic Beach , and identify any future
training needs to include on-line classes , workshops , and tabletop exercises .
J . Michael Deal
Chief of Police
CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM ON EMERGENCY PLANNING
AGENDA ITEM: This is a formal request for a briefmg by the City Manager and staff to the
City Commission on detailed aspects of the City ' s Emergency
Management plan for any and all contingencies or possible emergency
incidents. A briefing is requested prior to the start of the 2016 defined
hurricane season.
SUBMITTED BY: Commissioner John M Stinson
DATE : The 24th of February 2016
BACKGROUND : The City of Atlantic Beach emergency operations are covered under City
Ordinance Part II, Chapter 2, Administration, Article VIII, Emergency Management, Division II,
Emergency Management Plan, Section 2 parts 401 -409 .
Most emergencies are unpredictable and vary widely in scope, impact and required response.
Causes may be severe weather, infectious diseases, industrial accidents or spills, or by intentional
acts . And, when experienced, an emergency can threaten public safety, the environment,
property, critical infrastructure, the health of the public and access to life saving health care.
Preparation, planning, assessment and practice are essential to emergency preparedness .
And, residents of Atlantic Beach need to understand key points of any response plan, including :
1 . The City utilizes a detailed plan that is current, assessed and updated annually.
2 . Identifying the Incident Chain of Command, including selection and training required.
3 . Preferred methods of information dissemination to & from the public.
4 . Specific evacuation routes for each unique area of the city.
5 . Contingency plans in the event evacuation is not possible .
6 . City-wide security in the event a full evacuation is implemented.
Atlantic Beach has been fortunate to not having experienced a natural emergency in decades .
The beaches are the first to evacuate if a stomi nears our area and our proximity to NS Mayport
has the potential to force emergency response due to something other than natural causes . And,
in today ' s uncertain times, it is not unreasonable to contemplate intentional acts of those wishing
to cause harm and fear in citizens .
Consider, according to the current Atlantic Beach city plan, when winds reach a sustained rate of
40 MPH in Atlantic Beach, all key employees (including police) relocate across the Intracoastal
Waterway . If City staff is relocating, will there be an entire evacuation of the City? How will
security be provided for our unoccupied homes and businesses in Atlantic Beach? How does the
plan provide for re-entry and recovery operations? Has the current plan been tested by "in
house" sessions such as a "table top" exercise where various scenarios are presented for city
leaders to respond to and that validate the plan?
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CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH
CITY COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM ON EMERGENCY PLANNING
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS : Remember . . . "If you fail to plan, then plan to fail" and even
the best response plan, poorly implemented, will magnify the impact of any incident
experienced.
Therefore, it is critical that any response plan be assessed, evaluated and revised to be able to
successfully address any possible emergency. Key elements to consider in assessing these
emergency plans include :
1 . Communications — unreliability of wireless services, GETS phones for necessary personnel,
secondary communications such as HAM radios, satellite phones, radio broadcasts, military &
National Guard, etc.
2. Traffic Management — egress, ingress routes and public safety control points, coordination
with adjacent governmental agencies, citizen knowledge & understanding, other necessary
services, towing & recovery services, up-to-date passes for citizen reentry, etc.
3 . Evacuation Action — control points for City traffic and flow patterns into neighboring
communities, security & looting prevention, PSA broadcasts, reentry assessment, etc .
4. Restoration — utility restoration and safety, debris removal, available resources, capital
constraints and disbursements, communication flow between various depth Intents & agencies,
citizen assistance with information, complaints, access to insurance adjustors, reliance on citizen
volunteers.
CONCLUSION: A detailed, current, and well understood evacuation plan is a matter of life
and death. The City of Atlantic Beach Emergency Response Plan has yet to be evaluated and
during an actual emergency is not the time to test the plan.
BUDGET : Time and focus of city personnel to prepare and brief this plan at a workshop, time
and focus of City staff to meet with other team members to evaluate data and make
recommendations .
RECOMMENDATION : Create a team consisting of one junior and one senior member of each
department of the City of Atlantic Beach, working with one member of the current City
Commission to identify required resources necessary for evaluating the current plan. This team
will also select members of the community to assist as emergency case contributors and plan
evaluation. The team would meet monthly until resource identification is complete. The team
would then schedule quarterly table-top exercises to evaluate plan response and effectiveness,
Early table-top exercises would be smaller, localized events with the magnitude of events
building over time to include other communities and response teams . Therefore it is
recommended this effort be undertaken prior to the 2016 hurricane season or as soon as possible
thereafter.
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