Top Pittsfield Officials Drill On Emergency Response
The exercise included mocking up various subgroups handling the event.
The mayor, the district attorney, the superintendent, council president, police and fire chiefs with top commanders in each department, and numerous other top officials were there discussing a plane crash that killed 20 people including a U.S. senator, Taconic High School being evacuated because of contamination in the water, and thousands of households without water and power.
But that didn't actually happen: It was an exercise.
"This is our first attempt at a major exercise involving department-head level attendees to work on this project," said Fire Chief Robert Czerwinski said.
Czerwinski has long been the city's emergency management director with Police Chief Michael Wynn serving as an assistant. The two organized the half-day long tabletop exercise and brought in evaluators to get department heads, elected officials, and local organizations to practice what their roles would be if such a scenario occurred.
"The whole goal, No. 1, is to get all of these city department heads and elected officials to know what their role truly is. We can talk about this in class. We can talk about it in meetings but until you actually have a simulated incident, you aren't going to know unless it happens," said County Ambulance President Brian Andrews, who is also an emergency management consultant and who ran the training on Friday.
Andrews constructed the scenario to impact numerous aspect of life. These types of exercises are common among first-responders but traditionally people such as the mayor or commissioner of public utilities or the superintendent of schools haven't been included. Those other exercises are typically focused on the upfront management of the scene and not what happens outside of it.
"This one, the focus was more on the back decisions that need to be made. Municipal officials have to decide how we are going to pay for this? How are we going to do an emergency declaration? Where can we reach out to help us manage this? They had a bigger role than other tabletops I've done," Andrews said.
As scripted, the plane crashed into a school bus and an oil tanker at the intersection of Valentine Road and West Street. It knocked out power. The oil dripped into the water system. A total of 20 people were dead and the hospital was being overloaded.
Mayor Linda Tyer signed an emergency order immediately, allowing the city to spend the money needed. Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood had to figure out how to get the money available to pay for what he estimated would have ultimately been more than a $10 million response as the scenario would last multiple days. The purchasing department had to mobilize to buy needed supplies.
Commissioner of Public Utilities David Turocy had to figure out how to mobilize his team to handle the power and water issues. Director of Public Health Gina Armstrong needed to get mobilized to curtail public health hazards with the water. The officials needed to figure out where and how to get water to residents sheltering in their homes.
"Tabletops are something we do in public safety all of the time. It helps us stay refreshed at our emergency plans. It helps us look at various types of incidents and how we respond. We very rarely have department heads, municipal officials, who really have to make a lot of decisions during these," Andrews said.
In the scenario, Taconic High School had lost power. Superintendent Jason McCandless rolled out his plan to get the students out and to safety. Director of Administrative Services Roberta McCulloch-Dews had to organize press briefings -- the local press conducted interviews with McCulloch-Dews and District Attorney Andrea Harrington during the exercise as if it was real.
Airport Manager Kris Keane shut down the airport, would be in touch with the FAA and federal investigators about preserving evidence. BRTA Administrator Robert Malnati had to alter the bus routes to avoid the area.
It turns out, Berkshire Community College students were on the bus that got hit and college officials needed to figure out how to best handle that. Hospital officials needed places to send patients.
The scenario continued on to have it be rumored that "Senator Airbag" was killed in the crash and numerous national media organizations were descending on the scene. Media areas were determined and what information was going to be released and how had to be sorted.
Harrington and her first assistant and deputy began assisting in the investigation, which would soon be taken over by the FAA.
"One of the things I noticed right away is how well the staff works together. Obviously you guys know each other but what most impressed me was that everybody was assertive enough to bring up points they needed to put forth," Robert Hassett, Springfield's emergency preparedness director, said.
Hassett was one of two evaluators. Hassett has experience with large events including when tornadoes ripped through his area. Hassett, who was honored as the state emergency manager of the year in 2012 after handling tornadoes, a microburst, and Tropical Storm Irene in his area, said he was particularly glad to see the top officials participate in this one.
"We learned a big lesson from Hurricane Katrina in that when they had exercises in New Orleans they always sent second and third stringers and when the real thing happened and the key players were there, they had no clue," Hassett said.
His criticism is focused on making sure that those department heads and elected officials who don't work in emergency services on a daily basis learn the lingo. He encouraged them to get more familiar with the functions and terms such as what the EOC is and how it functions.
The district attorney's office was among a number of groups involved in the tabletop exercise.
Michael Leary, director of media relations at Berkshire Health Systems, was the other evaluator. He focused on making sure the communication about the incident was cohesive, timely, and presented well.
He felt both Harrington and McCulloch-Dews delivered the information in a collected way but he would have liked to see a decision made earlier to use social media more.
"I think social media is instant. It is immediate. It contains, as we all know, a lot of misinformation. I think they need to take that into account and use the city's social media accounts immediately and have somebody specifically assigned to that to clarify what is actually happening," Leary said.
He had some other concerns about the media staging area being too far from the scene and refreshed the city officials on what information should be released and what should be held back until it was confirmed. He also advised the group to be aware of other public information officers involved, such as the senator's office and Federal Aviation Administration that will also have perspectives.
For example, one miscommunication during the exercise came when city officials released the location for parents to pick up their children but McCandless said it shouldn't have been publicly released during an emergency situation. That's one area in which officials could be more tightly aligned in know what each other are doing.
In another occasion, hospital officials weren't called into a separate meeting when their input could have been useful. Wynn said he'd like those other officials to be a bit more assertive in making sure the right people are in the room when needed.
But overall, most believed the management of the incident was well handled.
"I think it went phenomenally well. The communications that occur, people were not afraid to step up, to ask questions if they didn't know the answer," Andrews said.
Deputy Thomas Grady from the sheriff's office said the entire scenario was intended to create stress for the officials. He said the response is all things officials do on a daily basis but just in a different context.
The exercise was driven mostly by the pending retirement of Czerwinski in July, taking with him a lot of expertise in the field. This drill was partly to help get all of the other officials up on their response in case something does happen.
"I feel a lot better about what is going to happen to us after July," Wynn said.
Andrews said he will write a report on the incident and the response, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses. He will also create an improvement plan to help bolster everybody's abilities.
Tags: emergency drill, emergency preparedness,
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