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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12031991 - IO.6 I .O. -6 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra J _ F FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa n. g November 25, 1991 o.- ;, cCounty c' 4� DATE: srq chi K REPORT ON RECOM EWDATIONS FROM TIM' EMERGENCY' INICATIONS' SUBJECT: ADVISORY BODY SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . In regard to the need to replace the microwave tower at 40 Glacier Drive., indicate the Board' s intent to declare an emergency regarding: the need to replace the tower and direct the County Administrator to. return to the Board on December 10, 1991 with the justification for such a declaration and. other related actions. which need to be taken to insure the prompt replacement of the subject tower. 2. In regard to the need for improved communications between the County' s Emergency Operating Center (EOC) and those of the cities in the County, . establish the local government channel, L-24 ( 45. 82 Mhz) , as the city/County EOC coordination channel for disasters during such periods of time as normal telecommunications have been. disrupted by a disaster and until such telecommunications capability can be restored. 3 . Also in regard to the need for improved. communications between the County's EOC and those of the cities, request each city to permanently install RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency services:) equipment, such as antennas, radios, packet (computer) system, at or near each city EOC. 4 . Direct the Emergency Communications Advisory Body to further investigate the feasibility of. installing the. "All County Criminal Justice Information. Network" (ACCJIN) as a possible CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENTYeS YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY OR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVEOTS ,/� PEAK SIGNATURES: ODER 14S NE WRIGHT Mc ACTION OF BOARD ON December• 3 , 19 1 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED .3 9 9 � County Counsel ���BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF Terry McGraw, County Administrator' s Of R ISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Members, Emergency Communications M382 (10/88) Advisory Group (Via CAO) BY ,DEPUTY I .O. -6 data transmission network between all police agencies/city EOC' s and the County EOC and report back to the 1992 Internal Operations. Committee by June 1, 1992. 5. Direct the Emergency Communications Advisory Body to further pursue the feasibility of implementing the "California On-Scene Emergency Coordination Radio System" ( CALCORD) in all necessary jurisdictions by asking all jurisdictions to contribute on an area basis to the purchase of additi.onal. CALCORD portable radios which could be placed in the three. geographic areas of the County in strategic locations. for deployment and use by the affected agencies in the event of an emergency. These locations might, for instance., be the West County Detention Facility, Antioch. Police Department. and Sheriff ' s Communications Center. This study would have. to determine the exact number of such radios which need. to be purchased., the precise total cost of such a purchase:, how the radios could be paid for, where they should be stored, who should be responsible for maintenance, upkeep and periodic testing of the radios and how such upkeep and maintenance should be paid for and report its findings and recommendations. to the 1992 Internal. Operations Committee. by June 1, 1992.. 6. Authorize the General Services Director to add channel. L-2 to new radios. as old radios are replaced and to reprogram, where feasible, existing. radios. with L-2 capability, the cost of which will be expected. to be borne by each department which is purchasing or reprogramming such. equipment. 7 . Request the Emergency Communications Advisory Body to continue to monitor the availability of necessary frequencies from jurisdictions_ in Alameda. County which will. allow the Sheriff to convert from- a "simplex" to a "duplex" system, thereby improving the possibility that the Sheriff would be able to communicate with. his field units in the. case of a failure. of the microwave system or loss of. the Communications Center and report to the 1992 Internal Operations Committee either by June 1, 1992. or when such. frequencies become available from jurisdictions. in Alameda County, whichever occurs first. 8 . Refer to the Budget Committee for consideration as. a part of the development of the County's 1992-93 County Budget, including the use of the Special District Augmentation Fund., the need to replace the Sheriff ' s mobile radio. equipment at a cost of some $50,000 per year, f-or, the next seven years. 9. Amend the Board' s Order constituting: the Emergency Communications Advisory Body, dated December 18, 1990, to add two seats: one. for a representative of the Contra Costa. CAER Group (Community Awareness Emergency Response) and the second for a representative of the City/County Emergency Coordinators. 10. Direct the County Administrator' s Office to forward a letter to each city and. other affected jurisdiction in the County, enclosing a copy of this report and calling to their attention those recommendations which require the input and, cooperation of the other jurisdictions in the County for their implementation. 11. Remove this item as a referral to our Committee and instead refer it to the 1992 Internal Operations. Committee for the purpose of following up on the recommendations-. in this report and providing oversight to the. subject of emergency communications. I .O.-6 BACKGROUND: On . December 18, 1990, the Board of , Supervisors created an Emergency Communications Advisory Group and charged it with returning to our Committee with recommendations. for steps that are needed to improve inter-agency emergency communications. in Contra Costa County. The Advisory Body met initially in March 1991 and each month since. Attached is a copy of a report from the Emergency Communications_ Advisory Body on their work to date. On November 25, 1.991 our Committee met with representatives from the County Administrator' s Office, Office of Emergency Services, General. Services Department, Sheriff-Coroner' s Department and Health. Services. Department. We reviewed the attached report with those. members of. the Advisory Body who were present- Based. on our discussions, we have formulated the above recommendations., which we feel. are based on and consistent with the recommendations outlined in the. attached report. We are very pleased at the progress which has apparently been made in communicating among all of the agencies. which are involved in emergency communications.. In many cases, the. Advisory Group has identified problems: with the existing emergency communications. system and has. suggested solutions. which cost little. or no County money. The exception to this is recommendation # 8, which we are recommending be referred. to the Budget Committee. This recommendation is not new but is one which we will have to come to grips with. sooner or later. Because of the importance of the emergency communications system to this County and its citizens, we are recommending that thiz. subject continue to be followed by the: 1.992 Internal Operations Committee. TO: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE O^ Contra r.��. FROM: EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY BODY Costa J DATE: November 7, 1991 County SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON ADVISORY BODY ACTIVITIES Specific Request(s) or Recommendations(s). & Background & Justification RECOMMENDATION: Approve the report and recommendations of the Emergency Communications Advisory Body regarding the activities of the Advisory Body since its inception. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION/BACKGROUND: In December 1990 the Board of Supervisors, on the. recommendation of your Committee, established the Emergency Communications Advisory Body comprised of the following agencies: Animal Services Department, County Administrator' s Office, County Fire Chiefs Association, County Police Chiefs Association, Disaster Council, Emergency Medical Care Committee, Emergency Medical Services, General Services Department, Office of Emergency Services and the Sheriff-Coroner's Office. The Advisory Body was formed to provide a means for emergency communications agencies to share information about communications issues, equipment and system changes or improvements. The group was also charged with the responsibility of reviewing the existing emergency communications system in the County to determine the need for more or improved inter-agency linkages for the coordination of communications during emergencies or disasters. The objective of this effort was to identify economically feasible ways of improving inter-agency communications. In connection with creating the Body, your Board requested the Body to meet at least quarterly and to report to the 1991 Internal Operations Committee on the activities and recommendations of the Body in November 1991. The Advisory Body met initially in March 1991 and has met every month since that first meeting. The group has identified six issues or areas of concern that are related to improving communications between emergency agencies that operate in Contra Costa County. These issues are presented below for your review and possible support. f CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES Signature: 1 .2�tr�:-cam_ Fecommendation of County Administrator Recommendation of Board Committee Approve Other Signature(s): Action of Board on: Approved as Recommended Other Vote of Supervisors: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN Unanimous (Absent ) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE Ayes: Noes: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Absent: Abstain: Attested: cc: Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and County Administrator By: DEPUTY Emergency Communications Advisory Body Report - Page 2 ' 11/7/91 1. Improvement of the County Microwave Communication System: Issue Statement The County's communication system is based on a microwave. system that relies on eight radio sites which provide virtually Countywide radio. coverage. One of the eight sites located at 40 Glacier Drive in Martinez representa a serious- weak link in the system. The microwave equipment at the Glacier Drive site relies. on a tower-like structure that is in reality a broadcast antenna. that was. never designed to accommodate the present and proposed equipment it currently supports. Accordingly, there is need for a replacement tower in Martinez. Discussion The microwave communication. system serves the County Sheriff (including the contract cities of Clayton, Danville, E1 Cerrito, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda,. Pittsburg and San Ramon) , Contra Costa County Fire, San Ramon Valley Fire, east county fire districts, County Building Inspection Department, County Animal. Services Department, the County Public Works Department, the East Bay Regional Parks District and emergency medical services. In order to provide communications, dispatch centers must be able to make. contact with. the microwave sites. The microwave system is the. only means for the various dispatch centers to communicate with other agencies or field personnel. Because the various agencies are totally dependent on the microwave system, w redundancy was built into the system. The eight microwave sites are located throughout the County in a loop configuration which enables each location to transmit in two directions. If a single. microwave location or path. fails, the signals can go around the loop in the opposite. direction away from. the. problem area. If two paths were lost, one or more sites would be cut off from the rest of the system. Because, with the exception of the Glacier Drive site, the sites are hardened to better withstand earthquakes, it is unlikely that two paths would be lost as a result of an earthquake. However, in the case of th,­� Glacier Drive location with its inadequate tower structure, two paths could be lost as a result of an earthquake. The consequences of such. a loss would be that the Sheriff's Dispatch would be cut off; Emergency Medical Services would be unable to contact clinics, hospitals or ambulance units; the primary County EOC would be unable to access the hilltops for radio coverage; the alternate phone system to outlying areas would be cut off and Building Inspection, Animal Services, Public Works and General Services would be unable to contact their field units. In recognition of this serious weak link in the microwave system, steps are underway to provide a replacement microwave tower. Cellular One, a cellular telephone company has offered to build an appropriate tower to replace the existing structure at no cost to the County in exchange for authorization to use the tower for its cellular telephone company service. The County and the Cellular One Company are nearing the completion of negotiations for an agreement for the construction and use of the tower. It is anticipated that the terms of the agreement will be finalized by early December 1991. The Advisory Body is reviewing with County Counsel the feasibility of . expedi.ting the process required to authorize the tower construction. Recommendation Depends upon status of issue at time of report to Internal Operations Committee. 2. Communication method between City EOC's and County EOC: Issue Statement In the event of a major disaster, it is probable that regular communications service will be interrupted, at least for some period of time. Even if the normal telephone system is still operational, the system will be severely overloaded and may fail just because of the overload factor. Discussion The response and rescue staffs and policymakers- of the cities and the County must be able to communicate with each other in. order to assess not only injuries, deaths and structural damage, but also to determine deployment of the County's and State's resources. State OES calls this coordination function "Direction and Control" . Emergency Communications Advisory Body Report - Page 3 11/7/91 It was for this purpose that the County-and-cities Emergency Centrex Telephone system was installed. In 14 of our 18 cities, a County telephone line has been installed in or near the city EOC to help ensure communication with the County EOC at 50 Glacier Drive in Martinez, in the event of a disaster. However, in the event of telephone system failure, communication among city EOCs and the County EOC is still essential. In fact, in a review of the County' s 1989 Emergency Communications Development Plan, State OES suggested that "The Direction and Control radio system should be a single channel which would be used for top-level coordination, apart from .your operational channels." Two years ago, State OES suggested that the Direction and Control radio system be a high system-development priority. Recommendation Therefore, in order to provide backup to the telephone communication system among city EOGs and the County EOC, we recommend the following: 1. Establish Local government channel, L-24, 45.82 Mhz, as the city/County EOC coordination channel for disasters. Currently, the General Services Department uses this channel on a daily basis. Bart Gilbert,. General Services Director, has agreed to the use of L-24 for emergencies on the condition that L-24 will only be used until telecommunications can be re-established, and that cities provide and maintain radios and other associated equipment at their own expense. Total cost for a single station should not exceed $2,000 at each location. Specific cost information for individual cities will. be available from the County General Services Department. 2. Request cities to permanently install RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services) equipment, such as antennas, radios, packet (computer) system, at or near each city EOC. Costs vary from $50 to $5,000, depending on the current hardware in each city. Fifty percent matching fund grants have been available occasionally from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) . In addition to a Direction and Control function, RACES can provide a communication link with shelters, hospitals, outside regions or wherever their operators are assigned. 3. The "All County Criminal Justice Information Network (ACCJIN)" be investigated as a possible data transmission network between all police agencies/city EOCs and the County EOC. We have determined that in order to do more than send messages, duplicate software is required. The software must be purchased by the County and each city. Also, several cities may need to purchase p.c. ' s in order to use the disaster software. The ACCJIN idea should be investigated further by the Emergency Communications Advisory Body. 3. Use of the California on-scene emergency coordination radio system (CALCORD) for on-scene interagency coordination: Issue Statement During an emergency event involving a number of departments and/or agencies, there is always a problem with communications at the scene of the event. Each department/agency is equipped with its own communication system which only allows communications with its own units. There is a need at such events to have a single communication system to coordinate the event. Discussion The State has addressed this issue by licensing a radio frequency -that . all agencies can use. The frequency can be used by all government agencies as well as non-government agencies under contract with public agencies. The frequency provides for a single control point for incident commanders. Some agencies currently have radios equipped with the CALCORD frequency (Contra Costa County Fire District and the City of Walnut Creek Public Works Department) . Emergency Communications Advisory Body Report - Page 4 11/7/91 Recommendation It is recommended that all jurisdictions be encouraged to adopt the concept of using CALCORD by contributing on an area basis to the purchase of additional CALCORD portable radios to be placed in the three geographic areas. of the County in strategic locations for deployment and use by affected agencies in the event of emergency situations. Suggested locations are the West County Detention Facility, the Antioch Police Department and the Sheriff's Communications Center. It is further recommended that the Advisory Body be authorized- to pursue the implementation of this proposal. 4. Establishment of an intra-County radio channel for on-scene coordination: Issue Statement One of the primary disaster communication needs of the Fire Districts., Environmental Health, Animal Services, Building Inspection, Public Works and General Services Departments is to be able to communicate with each. other at the scene of an incident. This channel, in conjunction with CALCORD, would help satisfy the need for multiple channels at incident scenes. Discussion Just as the Federal Communications .Commission (FCC) has granted State UES permission to use a particular frequency state-wide for "CALCORD" Contra Costa County has a to-band countywide radio frequency, Local government L-2, 45.44 Mhz ("COUNTYCORD") , which is available as a coordination channel on-scene. Recommendation It is recommended that this channel, L-2, be added to new radios as old radios are replaced, and that where feasible; existing radios be reprogrammed- with L-2 capability. Costs for reprogramming existing radios would be borne by individual departments. Cost of adding one channel to a new radio purchase is negligible. 5. Sheriff's Dispatch System: Issue Statement The Sheriff's central and west county dispatch channels operate on a "simplex" system. This means the communications system operates on a single frequency. In the event of a microwave failure or loss of the. Communications Center, the Sheriff's Office would not be able to communicate with its field units. Discussion By converting to a "duplex" system which provides two frequencies per channel, the Sheriff would. be able to maintain contact with field units through the use of a mobile radio. The conversion can be made at very little cost; however, there are no additional radio frequencies available at this time. The Cities of Oakland and. Alameda are moving toward converting to another radio system which should release the needed frequencies to Contra Costa to convert to the duplex system. Recommendation Since the implementation of the duplex system is dependent upon the actions of entities outside the County, there is no action to recommend at this time. The Advisory Body will continue to monitor this issue for future implementation. 6. Sheriff's Mobile Radio Equipment: Issue Statement Another related matter has to do with the need for the Sheriff's Office to establish an on-going replacement policy and funding program for the replacement of emergency vehicle radios. Discussion Many radios are up to twenty, years old and are practically dysfunctional. The initial replacement cost is estimated at $340,000. An annual replacement plan based on an average life span of seven years would cost $50,000 a year. Emergency Communications Advisory Body Report - Page 5 1.1/7/91 Recommendation It is recommended that the County consider identifying a radio replacement program as a high priority and devote a portion of the annual budget for this purpose. Funding from outside sources such as the Special District Augmentation Fund- should be sought. 'In addition to dealing with the above six issues. that. require resolution, the Advisory Body discussed the following issue which is presented for informational purposes. Emergency Medical Services. Communications: Issue Statement Problems in the County's Emergency Medical Services communications system have included: (1) a lack of sufficient radio channels to handle the volume of ambulance-to-hospital traffic and. (2) the lack of a direct data link between the 9-1-1 fire/medical dispatch centers and the ambulance dispatch center in those areas of the County with private ambulance service. Of the two County radio channels available for EMS traffic, one is used for countywide ambulance tracking and coordination by the Sheriff's dispatch center. This has left only one channel .for paramedic units to receive orders from their base hospitals and for ambulances to notify hospitals that they are en route with a patient. The lack of a direct data link between the 9-1-1 fire/medical dispatch centers and Regional Ambulance results in lost time and occasional miscommunication. Discussion One of the objectives of Measure H in establishing a countywide assessment for improved EMS services was. to upgrade emergency medical. communi.cati.ons. Measure H funding has already been used. to expand the County MEDARS. system from two channels to four channels. Four radio channels, backed up with the cellular telephone capability of all paramedics, is ample to meet needs now and in the foreseeable future. The issue of. CAB-to-CAD linkage between the fire/medical' dispatch centers and Regional Ambulance is currently being addressed by EMS in conjunction with Contra Costa County Fire, the Sheriff's Depar;unent and the Cities of Pinole (West Bay Dispatch) and Richmond (Richmond/El. Cerrito/West County/ Kensington Fire Dispatch) . A working committee has been meeting and has developed standards to accomplish the CAD-to-CAD linkage Consideration is being given to using. the existing All County Criminal. Justice Information Network (ACCJIN) . Funding from Measure H will be used to accomplish the CAD-to-CAD linkages. Recommendation Since needed improvements in the EMS communications system are in the process of being made with funding from Measure H; no recommendation in this area is made. Alan Nielsen, Contra Costa County Fire District, informed the Advisory Body about the availability of an emergency radio channel designated. as F33. Channel. F33 is a Disaster/Utility channel which can be used during a major incident for communications between the District Communications Support unit and the Communications Center. F33 is also installed in several EOC's for use by District representatives during a drill or major event. Since F33 represents a duplication of some of the systems discussed above and is primarily forthe use of fire agencies, the Advisory Body did not develop a recommendation on this issue. One of the .stated purposes of the Advisory Body is to act as. a forum for the exchange of information. In this connection., the Advisory Body presents the following examples of information exchanges that have occurred as a result of the Advisory Body meetings: 0 The need for and status of the replacement of the Sheriff's Communication Center/EOC antenna A The need for a radio replacement program for the Sheriff's radios 4 The identification of some common radio channels that will be available during emergencies Emergency Communications Advisory Body Report - Page 6 11/7/91 4 The discovery that the solution to emergency communications coordination problems is not hopeless ♦ Possibility of avoiding unnecessary ',, expenditures for communications equipment or systems, e.g. , the potential for the use of ACCJIN as discussed above The Advisory Body has completed an inventory of communications systems in operation in this County to be used as a resource for current and future communications issues. The inventory will allow the ,determination of a common means of . inter-agency communications and, a definition of additional equipment needed to enable local agencies to communicate with each other. Additional. Recommendations: The makeup of the Advisory Body has proven to be appropriate and adequate with some small exceptions. The Advisory Body recommends the addition of representatives from the following agencies: 1. Community Awareness Emergency Response (CAER) The Contra Costa CAER Group is comprised of local businesses, industries, utilities, emergency service agencies and related government agencies. The goal of this organization is to improve our Community's hazardous material related health, safety and environmental protection. 2. City/County Emergency Coordinators Conclusion: The members of the Advisory Body believe that the activities over the past year have been worthwhile. It is the consensus of the group that the Body should continue in existence. It was. agreed that the group should meet at least quarterly to deal with the issues discussed in this report as well as any new issues that may develop. The Advisory Body may ,explore future communication needs., systems and technology as well as review the potential for improving the coverage (effectiveness) of present communications systems.