From: City Clerk
Subject: FW: Emergency Operations in Fort Bragg
Date: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 11:15:40 AM
From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2024 12:36 AM
To: O'neal, Thomas <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>; Norvell, Bernie <[email protected]>; Peters, Lindy <[email protected]>; Godeke, Jason <[email protected]>; Albin-Smith, Tess <[email protected]>; Rafanan, Marcia <[email protected]>; Cervenka, Neil <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; Whippy, Isaac <[email protected]> Subject: Emergency Operations in Fort Bragg
Dear Captain O'Neal:
In response to the EOC presentations that you have made to the Planning Commission and the Mid-Year Budget Workshop, I agree with Councilman Peters that our community is isolated and probably way down the list when it comes to relief should a widespread catastrophe strike (if I heard him correctly, the audio was weak).
My thoughts are that emergency management and preparation is like insurance policy premiums. Here, we are insuring ourselves to protect against the day of trouble.
Your presentations were basically directed to the EOC/Emergency Operations Center. In considering emergency operations, I hope you will also consider the following.
When I was working with the local CERT group, my understanding became that there are 3-4 predictable disasters either separately or together. These are:
1. Earthquake;
2. Tsunami;
3. Flood/Rain; and
4. Fire.
These can occur in tandem save that we won't have rain and fire at the same time, but rain after fire can wash away a lot of topsoil and create flooding and landslide risks for denuded soil.
There is also an unpredictable element for unforeseen disasters, such as a medical emergency on the order of the Covid pandemic but much more compressed in time or something even as unlikely (I hope) as an errant North Korean missile.
I am concerned about the reliance on IT resources for the VEOCI system.
Such software systems are purely synthetic in that they are constructed by people and a pretty interface does not necessarily make for a good system. My experience has been that salespeople will say anything and never say that a system is not seamless. Without actual stress-tested use, such systems can be more of a burden than an asset.
Further, my experience has been that there are three, and only three, components to shared software systems like the VEOCI system: the database, the engine, and the interface. All three need to be optimized and tailored to the goals involved. Further, server capacity and available bandwidth can be crippling issues if they don't perform as planned or needed.
Lastly, my belief is that emergency preparation should include a significant civilian component and to this end, the CERT program administered under FEMA seems to be a good and reliable resource. CERT allows people to help themselves and others. It also provides instruction regarding the ICS system. There is also the hubs and routes system/group that I have seen information on from time to time in this area. Additionally, ham radio is a tested and reliable resource for communication that generally does not need special resources in order to operate very effectively.
MACS and WARS/Willits Area Radio Society are local organizations focussed on civilian radio communications.
The Mendocino Auxiliary Communications Service (MACS) is the Mendocino County Office of Emergency Services amateur radio organization. Mike Carter, KC6MGM, is the MACS coordinator for the county. Mike is retired Los Angeles Police Department and is familiar with emergency operations. He was also the CERT coordinator for the county for five years. If you would like to integrate ham radio into the emergency operations center, you can contact Mike at [email protected] or 707-984-8404.
Thank you for your time and your service.
Best Regards,
Andrew Jordan
Fort Bragg, CA