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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12191995 - C48 'TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM: Mark Finucane, Health Services Director _=J Contra _ Costa DATE: December 5, 1995 County SUBJECT: Approve Submission of Grant Proposal to the State of California, Office of Emergency Services SPECIFIC REQUESr(S)OR RECOMMENDATIONS)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION: Approve submission of grant proposal to the State of California, Office of Emergency Services (OES), in the amount of $7,620, for the period from January 15, 1996 through June 30, 1996 for the Community Warning, System/Hospital Shelter-in-Place project. BACKGROUND: Many hospitals in Contra Costa County have received patients during hazardous materials incidents,but none has ever been asked to Shelter-in-Place during an incident which could severely impact normal hospital operations. Many of the hospitals are located near large chemical facilities or major transportation arteries. This grant will allow the Department to work with hospitals to evaluate Shelter-in-Place plans and procedures. This will be done through a series of meetings and a table top exercise conducted in conjunction with a monthly test of the new Community Warning System (CWS). This work will also help educate hospital staff with the protective action of Shelter-in-Place which is the initial action to be taken when the Community Warning System sirens sound. In order to meet the deadline for submission, the grant proposal has been forwarded to the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) for approval. FISCAL IMPACT• If funded as submitted, approval of this grant proposal will result in $7,620 from the State during the period from Jan 15, 1996 through June 30, 1996. Sources of funding are as follows: $,7620 State 1,905 Required County Match $9,525 Total Program CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES X NO SIGNATURE � RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATUREM: ACTION OF BOARD ON I9 , 19 9 5 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. Contact Person: Elinor Blake (370-5022) CC: Health Services Director (HSD) ATTESTED Hazardous Materials Dept. (HSD) PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY ✓ �, DEPUTY LEPC PRIORITY # Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Planning Grant Workplan Name of Project: Community Warning System/Hospital Shelter-In-Place Project Funding: $7620. + $1905. _ $9525. HMEP FUNDS 20% MATCH SHARE TOTAL AMOUNT Project Start Date: Jan. 15, 1996 Project End Date: June 30, 1996 Description of Project: (attach additional sheets as needed) See Attached Project Manager Information: (Name/Address/Phone Number of Project Contact Person) Tracy Hein-Silva Contra Costa Health Services Dept:_.. 4333 Pacheco Blvd. Martinez, CA 94553 510 646-2212 Check the activity under which this project is eligible for HMEP funding: [X] • Development, improvement, and implementation of emergency plans required under EPCRA, as well as exercises which test the Regional plans. Enhancement of emergency plans to include hazards analysis as well as response procedures for emergencies involving transportation of hazardous materials, including radioactive materials. [ ] • An assessment to determine flow patterns of hazardous materials within a geographic area and development and maintenance of a system to keep such information current. [ ] • An assessment of the need for regional hazardous materials emergency response teams. [X] • An assessment of local response capabilities. [ ] • Conduct emergency response drills and exercises associated with local operational plans. [X] • Technical staff to support the planning effort. (Staff funded under planning grants cannot diverted to other requirements.) Final Product to be Produced: Evaluation of local hospitals Shelter-In-Place procedures and a prototype which can be used by other hospitals in the region. Approvals: LEPC Chair (Name and Signature) OES Regional Staff (Name and Signature) I Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Grant Proposal I. Problem Statement Contra Costa is the largest producer and transporter of hazardous materials per capita in the State of California. Because of this, critical emphasis must be placed on the protective actions to use following notification of hazardous materials emergencies. Each of the tools of the new Community Warning System have been developed to alert and notify the community that an event has occurred and, if indicated, protective measures should be taken. Monthly testing of the siren system will begin in November, 1995. Community education has been aimed at what to do if sirens are sounded and particularly one expected action - Shelter-In-Place. Many hospitals in Contra Costa County have received patients that have been victims of hazardous materials incidents. The hospitals themselves have never been in a situation where they were told to Shelter-In-Place. II. Project Description The Contra Costa project will be a two part project. First, in conjunction with the monthly testing of the sirens, the rest of the tools of the new Community Warning System (slated to officially go on line in April, 1996) will be activated. The tools tested will include Community Alert Network, local media, Emergency Alert Receivers in sensitive receptors such as schools, hospitals, day care facilities, nursing homes and homeless shelters and computer terminals in pre-determined locations. These locations include industrial and emergency response agency sites. Preparation for the activation and the activation itself will help educate and familiarize participants with the warning system and the protective action of Shelter-In-Place. The primary focus of the project will be to evaluate local hospitals Shelter-In-Place plans and procedures. The preparation for the evaluation will focus on planning and response for the possibility of being asked to Shelter-In-Place. The 10 hospitals in Contra Costa County will be asked to participate. The triggering event for the activation and evaluation will be a hazardous materials transportation accident. Interesting questions are raised that require review and evaluation. They include the following: Do hospitals have procedures developed to Shelter-In-Place within there facility? How long would the hospital be able to Shelter-In-Place before patient transport into or from the facility becomes an issue? What happens when hundreds or thousand of people arrive outside the emergency department door wanting treatment at a facility that is Sheltering-In-Place? Have the hospitals exercised their response plans? What has worked well and what needs improvement? These are important considerations that will be among those addressed as part of the project. III. Project Objectives Objective 1: Assist in the development or enhancement of hospital Shelter-In-Place response plans. Objective 2: Evaluate hospital emergency Shelter-In-Place response plans. IV. Implementation Timetable and Milestones The schedule of the project is from January 15, 1996 to June 30, 1996. A more detailed timetable and milestones will be developed. V. Project Evaluation The successful completion of the stated objectives will be used as the performance indicators. Ongoing progress will be measured by adherence to the developed timetable and by feedback obtained from the Contra Costa Count hospitals. Data to be used in the evaluation of the project is the completed hospital emergency Shelter-In-Place response plans and the evaluation forms to be developed for the project. VI. Statement of Intent Contra Costa County has demonstrated its commitment to county-wide preparedness through the service of its health department, health officer, petro-chemical industries other agencies. It also is demonstrated by the commitment of significant staff time to event preparedness. Contra Costa is committed to continued involvement in public health and safety and related community education.