DEPARTMENT: Fire Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Charles N. Hood, Fire Chief
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Briefing and update on emergency preparedness capabilities and Hurricane Harvey response lessons learned.
SUMMARY:
This item provides a briefing by the San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD), San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), and Transportation & Capital Improvements (TCI) on emergency preparedness capabilities and Hurricane Harvey response lessons learned.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Emergency management is a comprehensive system to respond to emergencies or disasters impacting our community. The mission of the City of San Antonio Office of Emergency Management (SAOEM) is to coordinate activities of the City departments responsible for continued operations during disasters, coordinate agreements for the use of resources, communicate with State and Federal agencies, and provide education and training to citizens and municipal employees.
Hurricane Harvey was expected to cause catastrophic flooding in the San Antonio area and while it missed the area, preparations by various departments were made in the event the city actually faced this looming threat. The Transportation and Capital Improvements Department continues to improve its drainage through the construction of capital projects and enforcement of development standards that go beyond the minimum federal 100-year storm requirements. The San Antonio River Authority (SARA) routinely updates their predictive flood models to reflect major capital projects and other development. As a result of Hurricane Harvey, SARA ran their models through a “Tropical Storm Harvey Scenario” to understand the potential impacts of a storm of this magnitude. As part of the overall emergency operations briefing the updated model results will be presented to City Council.
Additionally, the mass casualty in Las Vegas has brought national attention on how jurisdictions coordinate plans and exercises in preparation for mass casualty events. The San Antonio Police Department continually participates in training exercises and planning activities with the San Antonio Fire Department and regional emergency management stakeholders, to ensure the Department remains prepared to respond to critical incidents in the community ranging from flooding to mass casualty events.
The primary role of the SAPD in critical incidents is to ensure public safety by neutralizing any threats, securing locations to preserve evidence and protect residents and communicating critical information to the general public. SAFD’s Rescue Task Force also works in conjunction with law enforcement to provide on the spot emergency medical treatment in a mass casualty event.
To provide a more comprehensive understanding of the roles of each of these departments, the presentation will provide an overview on mass casualty event planning and special response capabilities that can deployed if needed.
Departments will cover topics including;
• City-wide emergency operations planning and plans
• The four phases of emergency management (Prevent, Prepare, Respond, Recover)
• Federal Assistance that is available during major disaster declarations
• Special coordination that occurs between various departments during large-scale
disasters
• Hurricane Harvey flooding potential
• Mass casualty incident management planning and response capabilities
ISSUE:
SAFD, SAPD and TCI will update City Council on their combined emergency response planning and lessons learned from recent events.
ALTERNATIVES:
This memo is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no action requested on this item and there is no fiscal impact.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a briefing from various emergency response Departments to council on emergency preparedness capabilities and initial Hurricane Harvey response lessons learned.