CLARK REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY 9-1-1  -  Emergency Preparedness  -  Emergency Medical Services

      Operations

TABLE  OF CONTENTS

After-Action Report:
Introduction

Exercise Objectives

Summary of Findings

Recommendations

Appendix 1: Participants

Appendix 2:
Evaluation
Objective1:Resource
Objective2:Purchasing
Objective3:Technical
Objective4:Communication
Objective5:PIO

Appendix 3:
Detailed Findings
General Comments
Staffing
Training
ECC Systems
Operations
Resource Management
Planning
Technical Information
Communications
Public Information

Complete Report
(no photos/navigation)

Summary:  The roundtable format worked as designed, and greatly enhanced information sharing and cooperation among the operations team. Staff substitutions and absences placed many unfamiliar responsibilities on the Operations Section Chief. The absence of fire-department expertise in Ops, and the lack of an incident action plan made it difficult to evaluate certain expected actions for resource management.

The roundtable configuration was very successful in encouraging cooperation and resource-sharing among members of the Operations section. The school representative’s presence highlighted the use of the school position for providing information about schools and gathering intelligence about roads, neighborhoods, damage and other disaster impacts. C-Tran and the schools worked cooperatively to meet transportation needs. The hospital and Health Department interacted positively with one another and with the PIOs to share information and get necessary instructions out to the public.

Due to an unforeseen staffing shortage, the Operations section chief position was not filled by a field-oriented public safety representative, as is usually the case, and the incident action plan/incident priorities were not developed. This was not an evaluation point in the exercise, but the lack of a formal plan made it difficult to assess the related resource management objective of resource procurement prioritization. Operations did appropriately refer urgent unmet resource needs to Logistics, however.

Shelter locations were delayed in making it to the whiteboard, in part due to the Red Cross absence (pulled into a real event) during the first portion of the exercise. Once they arrived, the shelters were posted promptly. The shelter locations initially were not tied to geographic areas, but this was corrected later. It was noted that some schools were tapped for shelter locations, but that there are no pre-existing MOU’s between those schools and emergency management.  

See recommendations related to ECC Organization and Electronic Systems, return to Summary, or use the links below to view more detailed findings.

View more:
     General Comments
     Staffing
     Training
     ECC Systems
     Operations
     Resource Management
     Planning
     Technical Information
     Communications
     Public Information

For further information/discussion on this report, please call (360) 737-1911 to speak with Deborah Needham (Ext. 3962) or John Wheeler (Ext. 3941) at Clark Regional Communications Agency. E-mail comments to deborah.needham@co.clark.wa.us. Click here to view the main web page.