Newsletter
Spring 2012
Issue 7
In this edition:
Page 2 – Upcoming Trainings
Page 3 – Narrowbanding
Page 4 – Grants
Page 5 – Emergency Response Agency Asset Surveys
Page 6 – NIMS Compliance for New Government Officials
Page 7 – Dispatcher in the spotlight
Page 8 – CodeRED Phone App
Page 9 – Search and Rescue Drill
Page 10 – Statewide Tornado Drill
Contact Information
Tama County Emergency Management Agency
Ryan Currens or Julie Vokoun
Office: (641) 484 – 6261
24 hour dispatch number: (641) 484 – 3760
Webpage: http://www.tamacounty.org/
Tama County Emergency Management Agency Blog:
Where we put upcoming trainings and other valuable information.
Upcoming Training Opportunities
April 4- Iowa
April 10- ICS402 at 1730 hours at the Tama County Board of Supervisors Chambers.
April 12- Haz Mat Recertification at 6pm at Toledo
April 21 – Search and Rescue Drill at Otter Creek Park at 9am, muster at Nature Center
May 4 - Terrorism issues in Iowa at 0800 hours at the Otter Creek Nature Center
May 14- Haz Mat Awareness at 1600 hours at the Tama County Emergency Management Agency office.
May 19 – 20 – Live Fire Skills at the Fire Service Training Bureau
September 22 – 23 – CITA Fire school at Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids
November 3 – 4 – NATA Training Academy
Contact: Jim Kenkel, Special Programs Coordinator - kenkel@dps.state.ia.us
Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Specialist I
April 12-13, 2012 (Ames
Incident Command for High-Rise Operations
May 3-4, 2012 (Des Moines)
Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Specialist II
May 17-18, 2012 (Ames
Fire and Life Safety Plans Review
June 4-9, 2012 (Regional Delivery in Ames
The Tama County E911 Board recently approved the bid of RC Systems for the County’s 911 narrowbanding contract. Part of that bid includes the programming of the twelve municipalities’ emergency response radios (Fire, EMS , and Law).
A representative from RC Systems should be contacting each city Fire Chief (who will serve as the primary City point of contact for them) in the very near future. They will set up a time to perform the programming.
It will be the responsibility of each agency to have their equipment on hand when the technicians are available. Only equipment present at the time of programming can be programmed and paid for by the County.
The narrowbanding conversion / programming is scheduled for July 2012. This should give all municipalities time to budget according to their equipment needs (as only programming will be covered by the county).
Note - Narrowbanding will only affect the perceived volume of radio signals. Agencies will still be able to communicate with non-narrowband agencies during the transition.
Second Note – RC Systems has advised that they WILL have a representative present at the April Tama County Firefighters Association meeting in Dysart to answer technical questions on the Narrowband conversion.
2012 Grants
With narrowbanding rapidly approaching we have received several requests for grant options that may be available to local departments to aid in their compliance with the FCC’s unfunded mandate; here are a few:
* Alliant Energy Foundation Grants at: 608-458-4483
*Dysart Community Grant at: 319-478-2148
*Gladbrook Community Grant at: PO Box 373 Gladbrook , IA 50635
*Traer Community Grant at: 319-478-2200
*Tama County Community Grant at: 641-484-3108
*John Deere Community Grant at: 309-765-4137
*Casey’s General Store Community Grant at: 515-965-6100
*Alliant Energy Community Development Grant at: 319-786-7255
*Black Hawk County
*Community Grants Program at: 515-725-0431
*Young Foundation Grant at: 319-235-5346
*Hometown Challenge Grant at: www.alliantenergy.com/community
*Pioneer Hi-Bred Community Foundation Grant at: local plant manager
*Project MainStreet at: 888 – 9th St .Des Moines , IA 50309
Please contact the Tama County Emergency Management Agency if you know of a relevant grant that might be of use or if you have any questions.
Asset / Resource Surveys
County wide asset surveys have been mailed out to each municipal and emergency response agency. If you did not get yours or have questions please contact the Tama County Emergency Management Agency as soon as possible. We would like to have all of the surveys in so we can redistribute the information back out to the rest of the county response agencies as soon as possible.
This information will only be transmitted to other emergency response agencies and can be greatly useful to neighboring agencies in the event of a major incident.
These surveys are being sent for Civil, Fire, EMS and Law Enforcement agencies.
Surveys are also available online at http://www.tamacounty.org/
NIMS Compliance for New Government Officials
In an effort to update our Homeland Security records please complete the previously sent NIMS compliance documentation. The NIMS training is a federal requirement that the county and each city need to keep record of. Please complete the NIMS compliance documentation and return to our office (we recommend making a copy for your records as well) as soon as possible. If you need a new copy of the NIMS compliance documentation please let us know.
Training details:
IS-700.a NIMS An Introduction
Course Overview
This online course introduces and overviews the National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all government, private-sector, and nongovernmental organizations to work together during domestic incidents.
Primary Audience - Individuals with emergency management responsibilities including prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation.
Course Length - The overall length of the course will vary for each individual. IS 700.a takes approximately 3 hours.
Typical Questions about NIMS/ICS answered:
Q: Who should take NIMS and ICS training?
A: Everyone involved in emergency management (to include emergency operation center personnel in support of the field), regardless of discipline or level of government, should take the NIMS baseline curriculum courses (Independent Study-700 and ICS-100). Incident command occurs in the field; therefore, the NIC recommends that only individuals with a command and general staff role take advanced ICS courses. Fulfilling the training associated with this plan helps emergency management organizations, departments, and agencies to develop preparedness capabilities for effective and efficient incident management. As a result, trained emergency responders are available as mutual aid to support incident management in other jurisdictions, if requested. The NIMS Training Program should sustain a personnel qualification system that is coordinated, maintained, and meets the needs of the emergency management community.
Q: Which courses are recommended for Elected and appointed officials?
A: Elected and appointed officials should have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities for successful emergency management and incident response. To that end, it is vital that elected and appointed officials understand and receive NIMS training (Independent Study-700 and ICS-100, listed as above). Therefore, FEMA recommends the following training for senior elected and appointed officials:
· G-402 Incident Command System (ICS) Overview for Executives/Senior Officials
· G-191 Incident Command System/Emergency Operations Center Interface
Dispatcher in the spotlight
“I have been married for 19 years to my husband Chris. We have 2 children, Molly 18 and Garrett 16. In July I will have 5 years of service. Of that time I have worked both second and third shift. In my spare time I enjoy being outdoors and spending time with family and friends.”
Pictured above –
Julie at station 1 in the Tama County Communications Center
CodeRED Phone App
The CodeRED Mobile Alert App is a sophisticated answer to the question asked by Emergency Managers nationwide, how do we communicate with citizens in our jurisdiction who do not reside there? The App tracks a subscriber’s position and sends a push notification if an alert is issued for the area.
CodeRED Mobile Alert App subscribers have the ability to manage their alert preferences and the App adjusts based on their direct instructions.
With communities nationwide subscribing to the CodeRED Emergency Notification System, citizens traveling through these areas will join the 50 million citizens already covered by CodeRED and will receive notifications directly on their mobile devices. This expands the reach of messages sent by CodeRED clients to travelers entering their jurisdictions and also protects citizens when traveling outside their local area.
National organizations used by public safety officials and police departments may use the system to send messages to targeted geographic areas.
Future uses of the CodeRED Mobile Alert App could include augmenting IPAWS as an additional Alert Disseminator to deliver Presidential Alerts, Imminent Threat Alerts and AMBER Alerts in support of the FEMA program.
Subscribers may upgrade their accounts to receive customized weather alerts based on NOAA’s National Weather Service bulletins. Dozens of selectable warnings are available within the CodeRED Mobile Alert App.
If interested contact CodeRED for more details:
866-939-0911 or ecnetwork.com
Statewide Tornado Drill
As you are aware the statewide severe weather / tornado drill this year is April 4th at 10am. We will need to do the following:
*Countywide test page
*Countywide CodeRED test message
*CAD text of the test to several non-frequent use groups
*City siren activation in Traer, Garwin and Toledo
The Tama County Emergency Management Agency would like to encourage all Tama County
Please contact the Tama County Emergency Management Agency with any questions.
For additional information you may also enjoy looking at the National Weather Service of Des Moines web page at: http://forecast.weather.gov/hazards/dmx
Full Scale Search and Rescue Drill
There will be a Full Scale Search and Rescue Drill at Otter Creek County Park (2283 Park Road, Toledo
All emergency responders and volunteers can sign in at the Tama County Emergency Management Agency Mobile Command Unit trailer. The Mobile Command Unit will be set-up outside the Otter Creek Nature Center (148 Nature Center Road , Otter Creek Park , Toledo , IA
This exercise will involve searching for several volunteers simulating victims who are lost in the woods.
All Tama County
This drill is anticipated to last several hours (exact time subject to speed of exercise completion).
Gear & Weather reminder – Please remember to bring appropriate emergency response gear and weather appropriate clothing.
The Tama County Emergency Management Agency will provide a meal for active participants who pre-registered.
