HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06102003 - C.84 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra
FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa
DATE: JUNE 2, 2003 � Count
SUBJECT: MULTILINGUAL CAPABILITIES OF THE EMERGENCY TELEPHONE
NOTIFICATIONS (RINGDOWN) SYSTEM
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION($)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. ACKNOWLEDGE that on December 13, 1999, the Board of Supervisors requested the Internal
Operations Committee to provide oversight to the Health Services Department on the
development and implementation of a method to identify individuals living in the immediate
vicinity of local refineries who do not speak English, and provide that information to the
County's emergency telephone notification system vendor(Community Alert Network)to
ensure that individuals can understand emergency messages and take appropriate defensive
action.
2. ACKNOWLEDGE that the Internal Operations Committee has continued to provide oversight
on this project and has reported to the Board of Supervisors on the project status on December
19, 2000, and January 6, March 12, and December 10, 2002.
3. ACKNOWLEDGE that the County secured grant funds from the California Air Resources Board
and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District totaling $140,000 to fund a pilot project on
multilingual emergency messaging involving the Laotion community.
4. RECOGNIZE the cooperative efforts of the Hazardous Materials Program and the Laotion
Organizing Project to gather the data required for the project; and most recently, the Sheriff's
Emergency Services Division in exploring how technology can help to meet the project's goals.
5. ACCEPT attached report prepared by the Hazardous Materials Program Director, Health
Services Department, on the history of the project, and the current status of efforts to develop
and implement emergency telephone messaging capabilities in multiple languages, including
the identification of new technology that has the potential of meeting the project's goals.
6. DIRECT the Health Services Department and the Office of the Sheriff to proceed with the pilot
project to provide multilingual emergency telephone messaging capabilities, to explore the use
of public safety messaging devices as a possible element of a Countywide emergency
telephone notification (ringdown) system, to explore the use of fines as a potential funding
mechanism for associated costs, and to report back to the Internal Operations Committee in
September 2003.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR~~ &�_AECOMME ION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
- ,kPPROVE OTHER
SIGNATU { •' - f
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AYLE IL EMA, Chair FED5RAL D. GLOVER ti
ACTION OF BOARD ON 7i7N ZQ� ZCK�3 APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED X_ OTHER N�
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
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE
AYES: NOES: SHOWN.
ABSENT: ABSTAIN:
DISMIC'I III SEAT VACMr ATTESTED: JUNE 10,2003
CONTACT: JULIE ENEA (925)335-1077
JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK OF THE BOARD
CC: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE STAFF OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
LEWIS PASCALLI,HAZARDOUS MATERIALS PROD DIRECTOR
MICHAEL KENT,HAZARDOUS MATERIALS OMBUDSMAN
LIZ KLUTE,OFFICE OF THE SHERIFF
GRACE KONG,LAOTION ORGANIZING PROJECT BY 's �' ��,r DUTY
FAX:(510)236-4572
Emergency Telephone Notification(Ringdown)System June 2, 2003
Internal Operations Committee Page 2
BACKGROUND:
On December 13, 1999, the Internal Operations Committee was asked by the Board to receive
updates from, and provide additional direction to, the Health Services Department on the status of
implementing the multilingual capabilities of the Community Alert Network, the current provider of
emergency telephone notification services to the County. The IOC has overseen, and received
regular reports on, the progress of the project. Costs of the project are funded by grants received
from the California Air Resources Board in the amount of$100,000 and the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District in the amount of$40,000.
During the course of the project, responsibility for managing the emergency telephone notification
system was transferred from the Health Services Department to the Office of the Sheriff. Since the
transfer, the Health Services Department and the Office of the Sheriff have worked collaboratively on
obtaining and providing emergency notification services.
Attached is a report prepared by Lew Pascalli, Hazardous Materials Program Director, which provides
a comprehensive history of the department's efforts to develop and implement a system that is
capable of communicating emergency messages in the language spoken at each home contacted.
Mr. Pascalli advises that the biggest challenge encountered thus far in the project is the maintenance
of information about what language is spoken at each home. In any system that relies on a central
database of information, it is essential that the data be kept accurate and current.
The Sheriffs Office was recently introduced to a new product called a "public safety messaging
device"that can deliver emergency messages in many languages. The product connects to an
ordinary telephone, detects the special frequency of emergency messages, and can announce an
emergency situation or an "all clear„ signal in any language specified without the resident having to
pick up the receiver.
At staffs first assessment, the new device has the potential for being placed in any household or
businessin the County for the purpose of receiving emergency messages. Since the use of such a
device, if it can perform as described, would obviate the need for maintaining a central database, our
Committee believes it is important to fully evaluate both the current pilot project and the new device to
determine which provides the best solution for the County. The IOC will also consider the BAAQMD's
policy that fines for violations of air quality standards be applied to help communities affected by
reduced air quality, as a possible model for funding expenses related to a Countywide emergency
messaging solution.
The Laotion Organizing Project(LOP), at our June 2 meeting, indicated that it fully supports the
County's',efforts to look at all potential solutions and will continue to actively participate in the County's
pilot project.
The IOC recommends, therefore, that staff be directed to work with the LOP to further evaluate the
current methodology and the potential for utilizing public safety messaging devices, and report back to
the IOC in September 2003.
�r
CONTRA COSTA
HEALTH SERVICES
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS PROGRAMS
2JUN 0
TO : BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Internal Operations Committee
From : Lewis G. Pascalli, Jr., Director Haz us Mat als Programs
Subj : CONTINUING REPORT ON THE E NCY TELEPHONE
RING-DOWN SYSTEM MULTIPLE ANGUAGE CAPABILITY
Reference is made to our prier Reports beginning on 13 DEC 99 and continuing with
periodic updates with the last Report to the I.O. on 10 DEC 02, subjects essentially the
same. While we have been progressing on this challenging project, I had anticipated that
we would be close to finalizing the project by this time. Fortunately, we have been made
aware of a devise,which could salve the one remaining question which we have been
struggling to resolve: "Flow does an Agency maintain and keep current, a language
specific data base, after it has been initially formulated to assure that the correct language
message goes to the correct home".
We believe that there may be an answer to this question and request, after reading this
Report,that the Internal Operation Committee to direct us to proceed in evaluating the
effectiveness of this devise.
BACKGROUND
On 25 MAY 99, a fire at the Chevron Richmond Refinery caused the activation of the
County's Community Warning System. After the wind direction,wind speed and type of
chemicals and materials that would be involved with the fire were ascertained; the
Emergency Telephone Ring Down System(ETRDS)was activated to the down wind
residents instructing them to Shelter in Place.
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In the dawn wind direction, a number of non-English speaking Laotian residents received
the ETRDS phone message and proceeded to hang up. In the aftermath of that incident,
various Reports were made to the Board of Supervisors on the investigation of the causes
of the fire and various Agencies' responses. On several of those occasions,the Board
became aware,through the efforts of the Laotian Organizing Project(LOP)representing
the Laotian Community,that there was an issue of whether the ETRDS could make calls
in non-English languages, so that a non-English speaking person receiving the call,would
understand the message and take appropriate defensive action.
Within a few months,the ETRDS vendor had contracted with a multi-language company
that could translate any message we would want into any or all of 242 languages. In the
13 DEC 99 Report to the I.O., I reported back that the vendor could translate the CWS
messages and all they needed was a listing of the resident's address,telephone number
and the language they spoke at that residence. I noted in our Report that it was necessary
to update the information regularly to insure that it(the data base)remains accurate. I
further noted,that it would be more of a problem in gaining the confidence of the target
community groups to obtain this information than it is with the technology of providing
messages in a resident's native language.
With direction from,the I.O., Mr. Michael Rent,the Hazardous Materials Programs
Ombudsman,and I went back to the Laotian Organizing Project to discuss our recent
upgrade of the ETRDS. When I described the information that I needed from the LOP to
make the ETRDS language capability upgrade work.,the beginning of Mr. Dent's and my
cultural and ethnic understanding"upgrade"began. The meeting ended with our agreeing
to meet further to discuss a plan for obtaining the needed information from the
community. Many meetings followed.
Each meeting with the representative elders of the LOP and their staff required an
interpreter and took, at a minimum of two(2)hours. There was an agenda, for the
discussion, and at the conclusion of each meeting,an action plan with dates,times and
responsible parties was agreed to by all present. With that set up, Mr. Dent and I returned
to our offices to develop a strategy for accomplishing the tasks assigned.
The tasks eventually rolled out to be.
s Develop a plan;
+► Ascertain the budget needed;
• Obtain the funding needed;
• Hire a Project Coordinator;
+ Hire and train the appropriate staff;
• Obtain the necessary office space,equipment and supplies;
• Do training for the staff on the time reporting and work practices of the county;
+ Set the plan in motion with reporting date requirements;
• Hold periodic meetings with the Project Coordinator and staff;
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• Monitor the progress of the project and assemble the information;
• Write the report to the LO. Committee; and
• Report.
While no element of this project was easy for everyone involved, I found,by far,the
most difficult parts were: Obtaining the funding needed, and Write the report to the I.O.
Committee. Mr. Dent deserves and should take any and all praise for persevering through
many months of trying to get funding for this project from a number of private
foundations, Public Agencies and several West County cities, known for their work with
community groups. Unfortunately, even after they were told that there was no funding
available in the County's Budget, when the foundations heard the facts, they all felt that it
was county government's responsibility to solve the problem.
Finally, with the help of the Board members serving on the California Air Resources
Board.(CARB) and.the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board(BAAQMD),
we were aide to get the funding needed for the project from: the GARB, $100,000.00, and
the BAAQMD, $40,000.00-totaling $140,000.00.
With the help of the LOP and by Mr. Dent's hanging signs in locations frequented by the
Lao community in the East Bay Area, we were able to recruit a number of people for the
position of Project Coordinator. In a collaborative interview process with the LOP, Ms.
Phaeng Toommaly Andersen was selected for the position.
The next process was to use the same community contact points to attract applicants for
each of the four Lao languages: Lao, Mien, Hmung, and Khmu. Applicants were jointly
interviewed by Ms. Andersen and the representatives of the LOP and four successful
candidates hired. After extensive training, which included mock interviews and
presentations, staff was assigned to the field.
Each of the four Lao languages represents a unique set of social, cultural, and community
dynamics,which directs the interaction needed to obtain their cooperation and
acceptance. As an example, one group is more accepting of a visit to their home to
receive information on the Community Warning System, and then provide the needed
information needed for the ETRDS; while others are more approachable in a community
or church setting.
Staff and the Project Coordinator, met with elder and leadership groups of the four
languages to gain their trust and acceptance of our need to contact members of their
community and obtain information from them.. While I first believed that there would be
accessible printed lists of their members,this did not prove to be a fact in a majority of
the cases. Information was given orally or introductions were made to the head of the
family to gain access to the family location.
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Prior to and concomitant with the staff going out to do the field work,posters in the four
Lao languages and a video,in all the languages,were produced and distributed by the
staff to educate the families in all aspects of the Community Warning System. Several of
the Lao communities are more understanding of pictures and the acting out of the
message being delivered,than by the written word making posters and videos more
effective communication instruments.
Staff conducted meetings in homes,community meeting rooms and church halls. While
we had originally understood that there were approximately 10,000 Laotians in the
Richmond area, our results did not support that figure. We gained access to
approximately 750 family residences, including single family homes and apartment
houses. Each residence had anywhere from one to three or more families. Each residence
would have a number of family members,which brought the number of people contacted
to approximately 3,500 to 4,004. The 2000 Census supports this lower number range of
Laotians in this area.
With the information gathered and transmitted to the vendor, along with the four
recordings made in each language,we then set up a test of the Laotian data-brise with the
vendor which was conducted.Initial reports are favorable. A survey of all homes called is
being compiled and is expected to be completed within the next few weeks..
The one lingering question,is how do we maintain and update a culturally diverse
language database in a county our size.No model could be found for this magnitude of a
task..No community organization is able to perform this task for their total community.
With the approximately$30,000.00 remaining for the project, we were expecting to do
further discovery and inquiry into various methods available for such a task. The task
remains extremely labor intensive and complex when we anticipate going forward with
other languages and ethnic communities.No new technology was on the horizon.
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
Several weeks ago Lis K ute,the Community Warning System Administrator, was at a
national conference concerning Community Notification in Washington.D.C. At this
meeting she observed a demonstration by a company out of Concord,New Hampshire,
called VoiceAnnounce. The system uses a device connected to existing phone lines and
can sound the Emergency Alert System alarm followed by a short audible alert message
in any language.
Immediately,Ms. Aute thought of our issue and arranged a meeting in Contra Costa
County with the president of the Company on FRI,23 MAY 03. After seeing the demo, it
became apparent that this device and system needed to be explored further.
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If the device and system answers questions raised at the meeting and is able to pass a real
time test with our ETR.DS vendor,then this is something we want to explore. The devise
and system presents an opportunity to have all languages announce an emergency
condition without the residents picking up the receiver. Supporting systems,
interoperability and:costs of the devise and telephone service have to be investigated. Ms.
Flute will be available for questions.
RECOMMENDATION
Accept this report and direct the Sheriff s Office and the Health Services Department to
work with this company and an ETR.DS vendor to evaluate the potential use of these
devices and system to provide emergency notifications, through the Community Warning
System,in any language present in Contra Costa County. The cost of this evaluation will
be borne by the budget established for the LOP project.
CC:WILLIAM B.'WALKER,M.D.,HEALTH SERVICES DIRECTOR
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