Accessible Transportation and Emergency Preparedness Planning

1. Accessible Transportation and Emergency Preparedness Planning September 18, 2013

2. Event Details The presentation can be downloaded from the ESPA website (www.ProjectACTION.org) This event is being recorded and transcribed. Archived version available on our website in approximately 30 days Accessible formats can be obtained by emailing webinars@easterseals.com 2

3. Event Details (cont..) Closed Captioning is available for the event. To access the cc, go to: http://www.captionedtext.com/client/event.aspx?CustomerID=1249&EventID=2203555 3

4. Meet Your Presenters • Julie Bommelman, Transit Administrator, City of Fargo, North Dakota • Kevin Shanley, Senior Emergency Management Coordinator, City of Chicago Office of Emergency Management & Communications • Carol Wright, Senior Director, Easter Seals Accessible Transportation Programs

5. Emergency Preparedness Planning Carol Wright Senior Director Easter Seals Accessible Transportation Programs

6. Emergency Preparedness A Working Definition: • Actions you take to anticipate and minimize the impact of emergency events • Planning measures taken to ensure reactions to emergency events are efficient and effective

7. Planning “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

8. Basics of Emergency Preparedness • Understand the threat • Integrate accessible transportation, people with disabilities, and others who are transit-dependent into the planning process • Identify all available resources

9. Common Types of Emergencies • Accidents/Incidents • Hazardous Materials • Criminal Activity • Organization Infrastructure • Domestic or International Terrorism • Acts of Nature/Severe Weather

10. Preparing for Emergencies Many organizations are preparing for emergency events just like you are, but not all of them are thinking from the same point of view. It is important to integrate transit into the local emergency community.

11. Planning: Local Emergency Management • Who is involved in community emergency preparedness planning? • Is your agency currently involved? • What is expected of transit? • Are people with disabilities and other transit-dependent people represented in the planning process? • Are written Emergency Service Agreements in place?

12. Accessibility During an Emergency Through inclusive conversations and extensive outreach, people with disabilities can ensure that they know their transportation options during an emergency. Communities can make sure they are aware of the different needs of transit-dependent people in their communities, as well as the locations of the homes of people with disabilities should evacuation be necessary.

13. Potential Accessible Transportation Resources: Building a Database • Local school districts with lift-equipped buses • Community emergency medical vehicles (ambulances) • Vans/buses from places of worship • Local assisted living facility vehicles • Local community and public transit vehicles • Paratransit vehicles

14. Potential Accessible Transportation Resources: Building a Database 7. Area agencies on aging/senior citizen center vehicles • Accessible taxis • Adult day care vehicles • Airport car rental shuttle buses • Airport shuttle buses

15. Accessible Transportation & Emergency Preparedness Planning • Accessible transportation should be identified and described in a city’s emergency preparedness plan. • People with disabilities should be involved in the planning meetings. • If an emergency occurs and an evacuation is necessary, the city can tap into all of its resources.

16. Preparing for Emergency Response Perspectives of Emergency Operations Kevin O’Hara Shanley Senior Emergency Management Coordinator City of Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications

17. Need for Participatory Planning • Obligation by Emergency Planners to Include People with disabilities (National Organization on Disability, 2009) • Twenty-seven percent (27%) of emergency managers had completed disability-related training (Fox, 2007). • Sixty-six percent (66%) of counties had no intention of modifying guidelines for people with mobility disabilities (Fox, 2007). • Limitations in range of disabilities – significant disabilities not represented.

18. Know your Emergency Planning Office and Help them Get to Know You • Identify key office • Understand procedures & people • Review existing plans • Learn about ways to be involved • Participate in community planning • Contribute to knowledge base around transportation & disability • Conduct practical exercises

19. Benefits of Participation to Emergency Planners • Partnerships between emergency planners and disability-related organizations improve planning and response (Littman, 2006). • People with disabilities provide expertise to enhance emergency planner understanding of issues. • Partnerships ensure inclusive and realistic plans (Littman, 2006).

20. COMMUNICATION IS KEY

21. Emergency Public Information • People with disabilities offer guidance to emergency planners around communication modes, accessibility, and notification. • Improves information delivery by emergency planners. • Enhances emergency response. • Increases responsibility for people with disabilities to share communication preferences.

22. Role of Transit • Transit agencies and transportation providers can: • Offer emergency planners information about their capacity and services. • Identify ways that transportation can support emergency response. • Participate in planning and practical exercises. • Share information about mobility and assistive devises to support evacuation

23. Resources • State and local emergency planning offices • City of Chicago Mayors Office • http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mopd/supp_info/emergency_preparednessresourcesforpeoplewithdisabilities.html • City of Boston • http://www.cityofboston.gov/disability/ • International Association of Emergency Managers • http://www.iaem.com/search.cfm • National Emergency Management Association • http://www.nemaweb.org/

24. Public Transit Emergency Preparedness Julie Bommelman Transit Administrator City of Fargo, North Dakota

25. PUBLIC TRANSIT EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS • What is the emergency? • Safety • Security • Vehicle Issue (fire, breakdown) • Weather Related Emergency (tornado, blizzard) • Flood

26. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS • Identify Events and Prepare as Practicable • National Incident Management System (NIMS) • Driver and Staff Training • Outside Speakers/Trainers • Tabletop Exercises • Take Advantage of Vendor Training (lifts, safety equip)

27. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – DATA COLLECTION • Identify (plan ahead) Staff/Employee Responsibilities • Have a telephone calling tree and update it semi-annually • List emergency contacts with phone numbers for work, home and cell, plus email addresses • Provide backup contacts for each aspect of the system: • Fixed route supervisors • Paratransit supervisors • Vehicle maintenance and fueling • Storage facility access (redundancies) • Driver’s and operations managers

28. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – DATA COLLECTION • Equipment Inventory Maintain an inventory of available equipment with specific features: • Accessibility • Vehicle size • Fuel Source • Seating capacity • Wheelchair capacity

29. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – DATA COLLECTION • Facility Inventory • Identify and make arrangements for alternative storage and fueling facilities • Identify drivers who live close and can reach the facility • Provide sufficient parking for the buses and drivers • Program two-way handheld radios for communication in area for providers • Cellular phones required for long-distance travel • Don’t forget the rechargers for radios and cell phones

30. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS – DATA COLLECTION • Have Current Maps • Storm Tips & Procedures • Update Rider Alerts/Website/Twitter/Facebook Notices • Fixed Route (pre-determined & published snow routes) • Paratransit - Registration through Self-Identification • Phone Messages Up to Date

31. Drivers certified by Red Cross First Aid CPR training Use of first aid/biohazard kits on vehicle Treat all bodily fluids as infected Contracted biohazard clean-up service SAFETY

32. Secure vehicle and check Self, passengers, other drivers Notify dispatch Location, injuries, tow truck Gather witness information Assist authorities Evacuate if necessary COLLISION

33. On-Board Equipment • Fire extinguisher • First aid kit • Biohazard Clean-up kit • Triangles • Collision reports and procedures • Emergency exit locations and operation

34. National Transit Institute DVD’s Identify suspicious packages/devices ID of strangers/trespassers Unlocked doors/unsecured vehicle panels Shifty or panicked behavior of persons Video/Audio Equipment on vehicles and in facilities SECURITY

35. SNOW • Predetermined Route Deviations: • Approved list provided by city to all drivers and dispatchers • Specifies a shorter fixed-route to maintain on-time compliance and passenger transfers • Major boarding points and snow emergency routes are provided service wherever possible

36. TORNADO • Indicative sky conditions • Watch vs. warning terminologies • Dispatch will relay weather messages • Evacuate vehicle to shelter if time allows • Designated shelter locations

37. Evacuate vehicle immediately Use belt cutters and assist mobility impaired Contact dispatch – radio enabled during fire? Use extinguisher for small, internal incidents Never open engine compartment New vehicles have fire suppression systems FIRE

38. Partial Evacuation – 2009 Event Preparation – 2010 thru 2013 Flood

39. FLOOD PREPAREDNESS2009 • City of Fargo Transit • Planning started 2-3 weeks prior to flood • Meetings included all management staff • Potential flood areas identified by Engineering • City maps distributed • Plans developed to limit fixed route and paratransit service

40. FLOOD PREPAREDNESS2009 • Paratransit • List of names and phone #’s of paratransit riders • Asked residential providers to transport their clients • MPO prepared map of all paratransit riders • Asked riders to voluntarily limit rides • All private transportation providers contacted

41. FLOOD EXPERIENCE • Weather Affected Mobility • Torrential rains followed by blizzard • Travel restrictions encouraged by Mayor • Only one bridge open between ND and MN • Fixed Routes detoured around flooded areas • Fixed Routes cancelled for snow storm • Interstate highways closed

42. FLOOD EXPERIENCE • Emergency Operations Center (EOC) • Fargo EOC at Public Safety Building – Transit Included • Daily department meetings at City Hall • Press releases issued by Public Information Officer (PIO) • Additional drivers/staff sent from Minneapolis

43. FLOOD EXPERIENCE- EVACUATON • Paratransit Helped Evacuate Nursing Homes and Hospital • Moorhead Nursing Home, Assisted & Catered Living • Most Fargo Nursing Homes (over 5,000 residents) • Hospital – ambulances, buses, planes • Long trips to alternative nursing homes and hospitals (fueling cards/contact other transit providers) • Suggest plastic bags/pillowcases for medications/necessities for riders • Trips to many outlying areas in ND and MN • Some round-trips took 20 hours

44. FLOOD EXPERIENCE • Metro Transit Garage • Semi-tractors of sandbags staged at MTG • Frozen sandbags thawed on heated floor • Remote storage of buses at West Fargo Fairgrounds and Moorhead Youth Hockey Arena

45. FLOOD EXPERIENCE • Metro Transit Garage • Paratransit buses staged for emergency evacuation • National Guard and Police Department • Mechanics utilized to transport National Guard • Showers and locker rooms

46. FLOOD EXPERIENCE • EOC Partners • Transit • Engineering / Planning • Red Cross • First Link Volunteer Call Center • Law Enforcement – City and County • Health Department • National Guard

47. FLOOD EXPERIENCE • City of Fargo Transit • 24/7 transportation between designated parking areas and ‘Sandbag Central’ • Sandbagging locations established in neighborhoods • Remote volunteer centers established at churches – transportation provided to neighborhoods • Transit staff distributed to manage transit at remote sites • “Code Red” utilized to motivate volunteers

48. FLOOD EXPERIENCE • MAT Miles Driven • 11,864Fargo • 5,401 Moorhead • MAT Passengers Transported • 28,000 (15,000 transported by MAT) Fargo • 12,000 (5,000 transported by MAT) Moorhead

49. FLOOD EXPERIENCE • Sandbag’s made • 3.5 Million - Fargo • 2.5 Million – Moorhead • Miles of dikes • 48 miles of protection (40 ft in height) – Fargo • (29 clay, 8 Hesco, .03 Portadam, 10 sandbags) • 8.14 clay & 9 of sandbags - Moorhead

50. LESSONS LEARNED • Radio & Cellular Equipment • Sufficient supply for EOC, Staff, Buses • Preprogrammed for all buses • Recharge regularly / Spares • Telephone Communication • Identify phone number for return transportation • Posters or handouts inside the buses with phone number