Disaster preparedness efforts on the Peninsula have progressed remarkably over the past 4 years and include the Get Ready Program which originated here on the peninsula and has now spread to the entire county.  So far, we have trained over 10,000 residents.

A First Aid Station, another vital part in our preparedness, is now becoming a reality.  The centrally located Del Mar Gym will serve that purpose thanks to the Reed School District.  The next step is to organize a group of medical volunters to staff the facility in the event it is ever needed.  

On Saturday, May 9 the Disaster Council will hold an Orientation Meeting from 9 am to 11 am to discuss operation of the Station and coordination with local emergency responders.  There will be a tour of the facility and there will be emergency equipment on hand for inspection, including the Fire District Ambulance, the Disaster Trailer, and the EMS Supply Trailer.   

Still needed is the local support of all medical personnel (physicians, nurses, paramedics, etc.) whether in active practice or retired.  Necessary skills will be limited to the very basic medical procedures of which all medical personnel are familiar.  Please volunteer for this worthwhile community effort and give us two hours of your time on May 9.  We hope to see you at the Del Mar Gym on Avenida Miraflores on Saturday!  For more details, contact Laurie Nilsen, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at 435-7386.

Property owners in several Marin communities face the task of obtaining flood insurance due to the FEMA map revisions.  FEMA began sending out draft maps to local agencies in 2005/2006.  Local agencies were asked to review the maps for errors.  While some errors were obvious, such as the inclusion of properties up on Belvedere Island in the flood zone, others were indiscernible due to the level of detail on the FEMA maps.  Instead of using accurate, scaleable maps, FEMA used printed maps of such a scale that individual properties could not be identified as clearly in or out of the flood zones.  The City requested that FEMA revise the maps for the obvious errors and send revised maps for the City to evaluate and send the digital files so that the City could make more accurate determinations.  

Advising a property owner that their property “may or may not” be in a flood zone as determined by a “draft” FEMA maps does no more than confuse the property owner as neither the City nor FEMA (the responsible agency) could answer any definitive questions concerning the property’s disposition.  Beyond this, advising a property owner that their property “may or may not” be within in a flood zone may be “disclosable” information that might jeopardize the potential sale or refinancing of a property.  Until the City had definitive information from FEMA, a local community meeting on the issue would not have been helpful and could have been potentially more confusing.

In 2007/2008, FEMA finally began responding, albeit reluctantly and slowly, with more detailed information and digital information that the City could use for property determinations and notification.  It was then determined that FEMA may have inaccurately measured the height of the Beach Road Seawall on the maps due to several baseline measurement inconsistencies.  This inaccuracy may have thrust  far more properties into the flood zone than necessary.  The City hired a consultant to conduct an independent verification of FEMA’s measurements  After multiple meetings and conversations with FEMA, consistent baseline determinations were identified and the City’s independent survey confirmed the new data.  

In September/October 2008 with the best information from FEMA in hand, the City (and Town) began the task of preparing notifications to property owners.  Because the City is not an expert in flood determinations and FEMA remained the responsible agency, it was suggested that a community meeting be held with Belvedere and Tiburon residents WITH a FEMA representative present who could answer questions from the property owners.  Locally, the important issue (and ultimate question from many of the property owners) was whether FEMA taken the Reed Diversion Project and existing height of the San Rafael Avenue Seawall into account.  Further, what the height of any new increases to the San Rafael Seawall would need to be to counter the flood determinations. 

The City notified property owners and a joint meeting was scheduled for February 2, 2009.  The joint meeting was postponed through the holidays into early February to accommodate the regular unavailability of residents during the holidays and to accommodate several FEMA representatives who had agreed to be present at the meeting.  The joint meeting was publicized via the local newspaper (the Ark), the City’s website, emails, letters, the local Town Meeting, and public postings.   The Mayors of both the City of Belvedere and Town of Tiburon attended.   It was very well attended – standing room only – from a resident perspective.  At the meeting the expected questions arose and FEMA addressed each of them.     

The issues of concern?  

• Had FEMA taken the Reed Diversion Project and the current height of the San Rafael Avenue Seawall into account?   Yes.
• Was there an accurate determination of what height the new San Rafael Seawall would have to be to protect residents?  No.  FEMA would be releasing a subsequent set of map revisions with more accurate survey data and detail that would assist with that determination.  Further, that “new revised data” may affect property owners within the special flood zone. 
• Would raising the height of the San Rafael Seawall remove the requirement for flood insurance?  No.  Because under FEMA’s new map, flooding occurred on the Beach Road side as well, properties would remain in the flood zone regardless of the height of the San Rafael Seawall.

FEMA answered these and many other questions of local residents at the meeting.  The meeting was digitally recorded and audio of the meeting is available on the City’s Podcast site.  The City continues to work with FEMA to “fine tune” their maps as it is extremely difficult to determine, event at this point, whether a property is or is not within the Special Flood Hazard Zone.  That’s why, now, Belvedere recently became another Marin City that has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, to extend the May 4, 2009 for affected Belvedere property owners to purchase the requisite flood insurance.  For more information, visit FEMA’s site on the National Flood Insurance Program – FloodSmart.gov or call (888) 435-6637.

Orientation - Belvedere EOC & PD

On Saturday, the City’s Emergency Preparedness Coordinator and representatives from the Belvedere Police Department, Tiburon Fire Protection District, and Tiburon Police Department hosted a tour of their facilities for interested Commission and Committee members from Belvedere and Tiburon.  

The select group received a “behind the scenes” tour of the Departments, the specific apparatus and equipment used, insight into dispatch and scheduling, and details on preparedness.  

If you would like more information on how these Departments operate, their scheduling, and a tour of their facilities, contact the City’s Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Laurie Nilsen.  Laurie can not only

Exploring the trunk of the Police Vehicle

 arrange a tour for you, but can also train you along the way on the City’s Personal Preparedness Program – “Get Ready 94920!”  Visit the Get Ready website for more information.

Department of Homeland Security

On Tuesday, Laurie Nilsen (Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Belvedere and Tiburon) and I traveled to the Center for Domestic Preparedness to attend training on the Pandemic Influenza. The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that there will be another pandemic similar to those in our history that will enter the United States. To the WHO, it is not a matter of if, but when. As a result, local agencies (as well as State and Federal) have been preparing for how to handle such an incident when it occurs.

One of the most critical preparedness steps is that of advance planning and preparation. Actions such as education, hygiene awareness and practices, seasonal flu shots, and preparation for and awareness/support for local efforts will be critical to the success of mitigation efforts.

At the training, Laurie and I learned more medical details than we ever care to know about the history of

Classroom Training

 pandemics, the current pandemic threat, and its genetic makeup. We learned of the varying types of influenza (type A, B, and C), the realities of the threat, and the various H/N configurations (such as H5N1) connected with each. We also learned the details of the National Response Plan and exactly how those plans will fit into the local Marin, and Belvedere and Tiburon Response Plans. We learned of mass prophlaxis efforts and how to implement them and of social diatancing, isolation, and quarantine efforts that can help mitigate impact and effectiveness of the pandemic. Lastly, and certainly not least, we learned of how to deal with mass fatalities and palliative care.

The sobering statistics read that nearly 36,000 die each year in the U.S. from seasonal influenza alone. The threat from the H5N1 strain of the avian flu ups that figure to nearly 1.9 million. These figures are extrapolated from the impact of the 1918 Spanish Flu where U.S. deaths totaled 675,000. Now certainly medical science has improved since 1918 and hygiene practices have also much improved. However, presently, there is no vaccination that can be taken for H5N1, the virulent nature of the H5N1 can cause death with 24-48 hours, it will affect all segments of the population (not just the very young, the very old, and the infirm), and should it occur it will spread rapidly. Given the eventuality and the lethality, turn out for flu shots (which will slow the spread), regular hand washing after contact, good cough ettiquette, and other measures are far less common than they should be.

For more information on the Pandemic Influenza threat visit the World Health Organization website at http://www.who.int/en/. For information on local best practices, contact the City’s Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at 415-435-7386.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to dress out in gear that, as a City Manager, I hope I never have to in a real situation. In the event of an actual emergency involving a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) or a hazardous chemical, my role is in the emergency operations center (EOC). In the EOC, there will be representatives from Police and Fire reporting up the chain to someone like me within the EOC making community-wide decisions relating to the incident based on their intel. They will report on the field activities of their incident commanders. The field commanders will be responsible for the activities of the field personnel during the incident. Their main objectives will almost always be life safety, containment, and property preservation. Life safety will not only involve the safety of any victims and casualties, but also the safety of first responders.

Having the opportunity to not only dress out in personal protective gear (PPE), including a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), but to also perform simple triage of victims and decontamination procedures while in PPE gives me an awareness of the difficulties, challenges, and limitations of the first responders as they go about the task of performing their mission. Further, to have the opportunity to don PPE and interact with live agent provided a confidence in training and equipment that can only be gained by experience. This gives me a better understanding and expectation of response during an actual event, in other words, in helps me make better informed decisions and in the EOC, that is always a good thing.

I participated in the performance of skills involving:

* the use of surveying and monitoring equipment to classify Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or Explosive (CBRNE) Agents using various survey tools (CAM, APD2000, M256A1, M8/C8/M9 Paper, Ludlum 2241 and Civil defense radiological survey meters while wearing PPE Level C;
* conduct of scene assessment to include the assessment and identification of additional explosive devices;
* conduct mass decontamination and technical decontamination operations while wearing PPE Level B;
* identification of the signs, symptoms, and treatment protocols for victims of a CBRNE incident;
* assist in the transport of non-ambulatory victims from a “hot-zone” (contaminated) to a casualty collection point in the “warm-zone”;
* and classify victims by the international triage color code system (green, yellow, red, and black).

Tomorrow will be the full-day exercise where we will respond to a train wreckage. The scenario calls for the team to arrive at the incident site where there are indications of terrorist involvement. The train wreck involves a plume of phosgene that is threatening a residential area north of the site. As a team we will done PPE Level B, perform mass casualty triage (triage color code system, cutting of clothing, and transport of casualties), perform mass decontamination and non-ambulatory decontamination, and complete the exercise within a live nerve agent environment.

Sounds fun and challenging!

Chow was in the mess hall from 1730 to 1930 hours. I received a training schedule for the 09-07 Incident Command Course (the first three-days of training). Training formally begins on Monday morning and breaks down as follows for the week:

Day One

* 0705: Bus Departs to Training Facility
* 0745: Pre-Test
* 0815: Incident Management Considerations and Actions
* 1000: Pre-Incident Planning Team
* 1145: Lunch
* 1230: Threat Analysis and Assessment
* 1415: Target Analysis, Vulnerability, and Risk Assessment
* 1615: Travel Briefing
* 1630: End of Day

Day Two

* 0710: Bus Departs to Training Facility
* 0730: WMD Incident Capability and Assessment
* 0930: Incident Action Plan Development
* 1130: Lunch
* 1215: Interactive Incident Response Scenarios
* 1530: Post-Test
* 1630: End of Day

Day Three

* 0710: Bus Departs to Training Facility
* 0730: Introduction to Interactive Planning and Response Exercise
* 0800: PAO Briefing
* 0815: Interactive Planning and Response Exercise
* 1145: Lunch
* 1430: Interactive Planning and Response Exercise (Continued)
* 1600: After Action Review
* 1630: End of Day

I do not yet have a detail of the training specifics for the 4th and 5th days of 09-08 WMD HOT.