Emergency Response

1
Emergency Response Crisis Management The
Important Role of Information Technology
2
Name two things that a) people never get enough
of, b) are always lacking in crisis

• Communication
• Planning
• In todays world, most communication takes place
  through
• Information technologies

3
Distinctions in Audience

• With whom are we communicating?
• Higher Education
• Staff /students /general public
• K-12 audience
• Parents / general public
• Staff ? students
• Situation communicated in age-appropriate terms

4
The context

• December 2004, emergency response capability
  assigned to me
• March 21, 2005 Red Lake, MN
• Mayor Furness, Chief Magnus, Lt. Paul Laney
• Are we ready for something like that?
• I dont know, but will find out

5
The context

• Four stages
• Prevention/mitigation anti-bullying programs,
  School Resource Officers etc.
• Preparedness
• Plan ? equip ? train
• Response can your staff execute the plan!
• Recovery including reunification of students
  and parents, counseling etc.

6
The context

• Train building response teams
• Train leadership
• Expand equipment
• Radios and cameras
• Police fire train in buildings
• Police train in multiple and single man entry
• Secret Service Threat Assessment
• Test, evaluate, revise plan

7
The context

• After discussions with law enforcement
• and superintendents, the plan is

• adopted by schools in Cass Clay Counties
• adapted to their buildings

8

• CASS COUNTY, ND
• Central Cass Schools
• Fargo Public Schools
• Fargo Catholic Schools Network
• Hope-Page Schools
• Kindred Public Schools
• Mapleton Elementary School
• Maple Valley Schools
• Northern Cass Schools
• Oak Grove and Grace Lutheran Schools
• West Fargo Public Schools

• CLAY COUNTY, MN
• Barnesville Public Schools
• Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton
• Hawley Public Schools
• Moorhead Public Schools
• Park Christian Schools
• Ullen-Hitterdahl Schools

9
Equipping the buildings

• Surveillance cameras in all buildings
• Currently, 270 cameras feeding DVRs
• Each buildings cameras available to principal
• All building can be viewed by six SROs and me
• More later

10
Equipping the buildings

• Floor plans of all buildings with shut-offs,
  hazardous and flammable materials
• Set of CAD files for fire department
• Set of PDF files and laminated hard copy for SWAT
• Flashdrives on DO personnel
• Master fobs in every patrol car
• Master keys on shift commanders ring

11
Internal communication

• VoIP phones set with portable switch creates
  portable Emergency Operations Center for District
• 3 sites configured in various areas of the
  District
• Governmental Emergency Telecommunications Service
  (GETS) card
• Priority service on all cell phone systems

12
Internal communication

• Considering emergency alert software
• extWARN, CampusE!ALERT etc.
• Multi-purpose like Microsoft Communicator
• Message mapping as communication tools
• 3/9/27 rule
• Threat Assessment Team
• Student records database
• Police database
• Interoperability!

13
Interoperability

• Kenwood two-way radios
• Realities of analog police radios in large
  buildings
• Permanent frequency assignment programmed into
  police radios
• IT personnel trained to operate each others
  networks
• Surveillance camera feed
• Fiber buried to City of Fargo
• Images to SWAT van
• Future to MDTs
• Connected to RRRDispatchCenter

14
External communication

• Emergency Notification Network
• Two communication department employees from
• Each of the ten largest employees
• Employees that do not have access to mass media

15
External communication

• Connect-ED
• of NTI Group
• 400,000 calls in 30 minutes
• Our experience all initial calls completed in 8
  minutes
• Most of remaining time, redials and bad numbers
• Up to six phone numbers for each parent
• SMS

16
External communication

• Connect-ED
• MP3 attached to email
• Nightly synchronization with our student
  information system
• Security parsing information to multiple
  servers
• Ability to create messages for any/all subgroups
• Local interpretive services
• Not a fast process

17
Emergency Response Crisis Management The
Important Role of Information TechnologyLowell
Wolff, APRFargo Public SchoolsCommunication
PlanningWolffL_at_fargo.k12.nd.us