Emergency Management. CCOEM Staffs Cleveland EOC for Brelo Verdict. Inside this issue: Volume 2, Issue 3 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Emergency Management. CCOEM Staffs Cleveland EOC for Brelo Verdict. Inside this issue: Volume 2, Issue 3 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT"

Madison Pitts
8 years ago
Views:

1 June/July 2015 Emergency Management Inside this issue: CCOEM Staffs Cleveland EOC for Brelo Verdict EOC Activation 1 Ohio EMA Director 2 Cle EOC Manager 2 LEPC TTX 3 Safety Day at the Zoo 3 RNC Update 4 EMAP Assessment 5 Training & Exercises 6 Contact Corner 7 Over the Memorial Day weekend personnel from the Cuyahoga County Office of Emergency Management (CCOEM) staffed the City of Cleveland Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during and following the release of the Officer Michael Brelo verdict. Operations of the EOC began on Saturday, May 30 th and maintained 24 hour operational periods until Monday, June 1 st. During this time CCOEM had at least one staff member operating in the EOC. CCOEM s primary role was to act as the conduit between the local jurisdictions and the Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA). This was done by interfacing with OEMA s Assessment Room using WebEOC, OEMA s incident management software program. OEMA also provided a liaison in the Cleveland EOC on Saturday, May 30 th through the morning of Sunday, May 31 st. In addition to OEM and OEMA personnel, numerous Emergency Support Function (ESF) agencies staffed the EOC as well. These agencies consisted of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA), the Cuyahoga County Fire Chief s Association, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff s Department, the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA), and the Cleveland Department of Public Health. These agencies monitored and updated Knowledge Center, as well as, provided vital information to the EOC which assisted in developing a common operating picture. As necessary, CCOEM will continue to act in a supporting role in the City of Cleveland EOC. The level of ESF agency support will be dependent on the size and complexity of the incident. The Cuyahoga County Office of EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT Cuyahoga County Office of Emergency Management 310 W. Lakeside, Suite 795 Cleveland, OH Main (216) Fax: (216) ready.cuyahogacounty.us

Cleveland Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during and following the release of the Officer Michael Brelo verdict.

2 Page 2 Ohio EMA Names New Director Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS) Director John Born named Sima Merick Executive Director of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency today. She is replacing Evan Schumann who resigned as director to take another position at EMA that will allow him to spend more time with his family. Merick is currently Assistant Director at EMA and has served in that capacity since Prior to being Assistant Director, Merick served in various management positions at EMA since Merick has been instrumental in moving the agency toward a regional concept that will have liaisons in areas throughout the state who can assist county EMAs as the need arises. She will also work with private partners to assure that citizen s basic needs are met when disaster strikes. Merick holds an Associate Degree from The University of Akron and took courses at both Columbus State Community College and The Ohio State University. City of Cleveland Hires a New Emergency Operations Center Manager On Monday, June 8, 2015, Mayor Frank G. Jackson hired Alex Pellom as the Emergency Operations Center Manager in the Department of Public Safety. Pellom has his master s degree in Public Administration and has spent the past five years with the Duval County (FL) Emergency Management and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department. During his career, Pellom authored more than 80 plans that spanned all 4 aspects of emergency management preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. He served as the Project Manager for Jacksonville s 2013 Emergency Preparedness Guide with a 247,000 print run, which was distributed as an insert in the June 2nd edition of the Florida Times-Union. He has also been a routine guest for a radio segment to promote emergency preparedness throughout the community. Pellom is the recipient of the 2014 Public Awareness Campaign Award from the National Homeland Security Association and has been selected to serve on both the State of Florida s Gray Incident Management Team and the Northeast Florida Incident Management Team.

Merick is currently Assistant Director at EMA and has served in that capacity since 2011. Prior to being Assistant Director, Merick served in various management positions at EMA since 1996.

3 Page 3 LEPC Conducts Annual Tabletop Exercise On Monday, May 11th, the Cuyahoga County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) held their annual exercise with the Westshore HazMat team (includes fire departments of Bay Village, Fairview Park, Lakewood, North Olmsted, Rocky River, and Westlake). The purpose of the TTX was to evaluate Cuyahoga County s readiness to respond to a railroad accident resulting in a spill of Bakken Crude Oil in a populated area. The scenario revolved around the derailment of a train carrying Bakken Crude Oil in Lakewood. The TTX assessed the affected jurisdictions ability to test the plans and procedures for response to a potentially serious train derailment of a hazardous material. The TTX had five objectives: incident assessment, incident command, notification of response and support agencies, population protective actions, and response personnel safety. The LEPC holds an exercise annually, each with a different hazmat team. Greater Cleveland Safety Council s Safety Day at the Zoo CCOEM participated in the Greater Cleveland Safety Council s 30 th annual Safety Day at the Zoo event on Wednesday June 24 th at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. This event brings members and friends of the Safety Council together to promote safety, good health, and ways to protect the environment. CCOEM set up a booth to promote safety and personal preparedness. This event is a great and fun way to reach out to children and their parents.

The purpose of the TTX was to evaluate Cuyahoga County s readiness to respond to a railroad accident resulting in a spill of Bakken Crude Oil in a populated area.

4 Page 4 Republican National Convention 2016 Update Planning for the July 2016 Republican National Convention to be held in Cleveland moved forward this month when the United States Secret Service designated an Event Coordinator for the Convention. Shortly following the designation of the Coordinator, federal, city, and county officials met to discuss the make-up of the Executive Steering Group. The Steering Group will determine the member organizations of the various functional sub-committees that will conduct detailed planning. Although the number of sub -committee is not yet decided, between 20 and 30 functional groups are expected. On June 23, Special Agent Bryan Seamour of the Cleveland FBI Office discussed RNC planning at the Ohio EMA s Ohio Public Private Partnership (OP3) Northern Conference at Cleveland State University. Seamour told the conference that Clevelanders should expect the RNC to bring: As many as 50,000 visitors Downtown street closures Creation of an inner perimeter security zone which will be accessible only to persons with proper credentials Heavy police presence Protestors and counter-protestors Enormous national media presence Establishment of free-speech zones Although Cleveland has successfully hosted national-level events (most recently Gay Games 9 and Senior Games), Cleveland has never hosted a designated National Security Special Event (NSSE) before, so some elements of the event planning and execution may be new to public safety forces in the region. For that reason, close cooperation between federal, state, and local agencies will be critical to the success of the 2016 RNC.

Shortly following the designation of the Coordinator, federal, city, and county officials met to discuss the make-up of the Executive Steering Group.

5 Page 5 EMAP Assesses CCOEM Program On a calm morning in June, CCOEM opened its doors to team of seven emergency management professionals to initiate an intensive assessment of the County s Emergency Management Program. Lasting for a week, the on-site assessment marked the culmination of more than two years worth of work toward accreditation in the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP). For those unfamiliar, EMAP is an independent non-profit organization that fosters excellence and accountability in emergency management programs by establishing credible standards. Emergency management programs like CCOEM assess all aspects of their operations against EMAP s high standards. Doing so enables a program to identify deficiencies along with solutions and best practices to make improvements. Once an emergency management program is confident that they meet the EMAP standards, an on-site assessment is scheduled to validate the program s processes and documentation. CCOEM participated in the onsite assessment from June During which time staff participated in interviews, substantiated proofs of compliance, and demonstrated how CCOEM meets or exceeds all of the EMAP standards. At the conclusion of the on-site assessment the assessors briefed CCOEM staff on their findings. In all, the assessors were very impressed with CCOEM s emergency management program. Although a few minor areas for improvement were identified, no major deficiencies were found. Over the next 30 days, CCOEM will make the necessary adjustments to be fully compliant with the EMAP standards. Once the final documentation is completed and submitted to EMAP, CCOEM will be the first county emergency management agency in the state of Ohio to be EMAP accredited. For more information about the EMAP Program, please visit: emaponline.org.

Lasting for a week, the on-site assessment marked the culmination of more than two years worth of work toward accreditation in the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP).

6 Page 6 Training & Exercises TRAINING EVENTS July 07-08, 2015 MGT-315: Critical Asset Risk Management Location: NASA-GRC, Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH July 9, 2015 MGT-414: Advanced Critical Infrastructure Protection Location: NASA-GRC, Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH July 20-24, 2015 Advanced Clandestine Laboratory Training Location: Cleveland Fire Training Academy, 3101 Lakeside Avenue, Cleveland, OH July 30-31, 2015 MGT-431: Pediatric Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness Location: Cleveland Clinic Twinsburg, 8701 Darrow Rd. Twinsburg, Ohio UPCOMING EXERCISES July 20-23, 2015 Northeast Ohio Heroes Full-Scale Exercise Location: Various Locations throughout the Greater Cleveland Area. Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner s Office Exercise 2014

3101 Lakeside Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44114 July 30-31, 2015 MGT-431: Pediatric Disaster Response and Emergency Preparedness Location: Cleveland Clinic Twinsburg, 8701 Darrow Rd.

7 Contact Us Cuyahoga County Office of Emergency Management 310 W. Lakeside Avenue, 795-A Cleveland, OH Phone: Fax: Like us: /CuyahogaOEM Follow Walter Topp Administrator Mark Christie Plans Manager Brandy Carney Deputy Administrator/CECOMS Manager Justin Bechtel Operations Manager

Center for Emergency Preparedness

Center for Emergency Preparedness CSU / CEP Mission Statement The CSU / CEP team has a strong background in incident identification, incident management, emergency response, and the delivery of training