OEM: In The People Business

by Ryan Dirker, Emergency Management Coordinator, Office of Emergency Management

The City of Waco, McLennan County, and surrounding cities created the WacoMcLennan County Emergency Management Team in order to effectively respond to emergencies with a team effort when necessary. The team operates out of the Waco-McLennan County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and exists to serve the residents of Waco and McLennan County through the five phases of emergency management: Emergency Preparedness, Protection, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery. We do this through a comprehensive program of preparedness development, planning, education, and training.

PROTECTION

The first step in any successful emergency management program is to assess the critical infrastructures that are part of any particular community; once those are identified, we can begin identifying the threats to each of those critical infrastructures and begin assembling resources to meet those threats and to ensure that our community will not be catastrophically damaged or impacted by natural, technologic, or man-made disasters.

PREPAREDNESS

Emergency managers spend most of their time in this phase. At its core, it constitutes planning for various disasters identified in the protection phase and writing comprehensive plans to respond and protect the identified critical infrastructure. The Waco-McLennan Office of Emergency Management has primary responsibility over the County’s Emergency Operations Plan and its associated annexes. This “Basic Plan” is over 100 pages long and details the roles, responsibilities, and legal steps to respond to various emergencies. It is a countywide plan, of which all municipal jurisdictions in the County are signatories. The “Basic Plan” is supplemented by 22 disaster-specific “Annexes” that cover topics such as Communication, Sheltering and Mass Care, Health, Public Works, Search and Rescue, and others. These plans form the backbone of our operations. Per state law, they are updated and revised every five years.

Of course, we recognize that the very nature of our work comes with a great deal of uncertainty and variability and that each incident we may face is different from one other; that is why emergency management spends much time during “blue sky days” going deeper into a particular incident to find ways that we can improve our program and better meet the needs of the community. While our plans are both thorough and well thought out, they are meant to serve as guidelines. We keenly understand that it is not possible to specify a plan for every possible permutation of a disaster; this requires OEM’s staff to ensure that they are adequately trained to be as flexible and resourceful as possible during times of disaster.

Education and Training are critical components of our program, not only for the public but also for members of our office. Every year, Emergency Management staff attend training in various subjects. Over the last several years, our staff has attended training on volunteer management during disasters, debris management, public information, advanced incident command, and many others. We plan to enhance our internal and external training programs over the next several years.

Emergency Management is also responsible for making certain that the jurisdictions we serve have staff and members of the general public trained to best respond in times of disaster. Emergency Management hosts training and exercises several times a year at our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and various county locations to help achieve this goal. This ensures the entire first responder community has the tools needed to sustain themselves in times of disaster. A well-prepared community is vital to achieving a positive outcome when it comes time for the recovery phase.

One of the more visible parts of our emergency management program is our system of outdoor warning sirens; this system comprises 34 Waco sirens, two in Lacy Lakeview, three in Bellmead, and one in Beverly Hills. Other jurisdictions in the County also have siren systems that alert their residents to move indoors during adverse weather conditions. OEM tests the sirens on the first Friday of every month (provided the weather is nice). Waco’s sirens are activated through the City of Waco’s public safety radio system.

Waco Emergency Management supervises the City of Waco’s Radio Operations division. A partnership between the City of Waco and McLennan County for over a decade has produced a state-of-the-art 800-megahertz truncated radio system to which every public safety department in the County belongs. This enables first responders to contact one another over the radio anywhere within McLennan County and in many areas beyond. Various parts of its infrastructure belong to and are maintained by one party or the other to build a united and high-quality system.

MITIGATION

Mitigation reduces the severity, seriousness, or adverse impact of a particular incident. The Waco-McLennan Office of Emergency Management conducts this phase in several ways, the most critical of which is the management of the McLennan County Hazard Mitigation Plan. This plan, similar to the “Basic Plan,” has signatories of most jurisdictions in the County. It is over 700 pages long and covers a wide range of potential threats identified through meetings with the County’s public, stakeholders, and municipal jurisdictions. OEM is in the process of initiating the five-year renewal of the plan.

RESPONSE

The most visible part of our Emergency Management program is Response. This phase involves immediate actions to address an impactful incident or disaster. Emergency Management, as requested, responds to various incidents, including severe weather, hazardous material incidents, civil disturbances, shelter operations, and other similar events. As a city/ county office, we are dispatched throughout the county. This allows OEM to get out into the community to build connections and relationships across McLennan County. These relationships are critical in the event of a disaster; we have learned that familiarity and trust amongst stakeholders are paramount to mounting a successful response. OEM maintains offices in the Waco-McLennan County Emergency Operations Center and remains prepared to activate the EOC when needed or requested; the most common activities are severe weather events and significant public events, such as The Texas Food Truck Showdown and TriWaco. When activated, the EOC is staffed by emergency management personnel and other City of Waco and McLennan County departments with expertise in a particular field. This allows us to be agile and effectively respond to various disasters and incidents.

RECOVERY

Recovery is the act of restoring the community after a disaster; this phase can vary from a week to many years, depending on the impact. Recovery involves working with the private sector and local, state, and, in some cases, federal authorities to marshal physical and financial resources for debris clearing, infrastructure repair, small business loans, assistance with insurance and FEMA recovery paperwork, and other similar activities. Recovery is the final phase in the Emergency Management cycle, as a strong recovery will lead right back into hazard identification for protection measures.

COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training promotes a partnering effort between emergency services and the people they serve. The goal is for emergency personnel to train members of neighborhoods, community organizations or workplaces in basic response skills. CERT members are then integrated into the emergency response capability for their area. Training covers basic preparedness, first aid, fire suppression, team operation, and light search and rescue procedures. The CERT program is supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The training is provided free of charge.

In conclusion, the Office of Emergency Management often says that we are not in “the disaster business” but rather “the people business;” we exist to serve people. We strive to ensure that all members of the public who need our services are treated with the utmost dignity and respect— whether through educational activities or after a disaster. We are keenly aware of the difficulties residents may face when a disaster impacts them, and we feel fortunate that we are in a position to help. That is why we come to work every day: to serve.