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City of Redmond Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan ESF-6, Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services, August 2015 1 EMERGENCY SUPPORT FUNCTION – 6 Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services PRIMARY AGENCY: Parks and Recreation SUPPORT AGENCIES: Planning and Community Development - Human Services Human Resources Department Communications Office Finance and Information Services (FIS) Department American Red Cross (ARC) I. INTRODUCTION A. PURPOSE The purpose of Emergency Support Function 6 (ESF-6) is to coordinate the provision of mass care, shelter and individual assistance for residents impacted by an emergency. B. SCOPE 1. The City of Redmond Parks Department will work with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to facilitate delivery of mass care services within the City of Redmond. 2. Initial Parks Department response activities will focus on meeting urgent needs of victims on a mass care basis. Recovery assistance, such as temporary housing, and loans and grants for individuals under federal disaster assistance programs and the assistance of the American Red Cross may commence as response activities are taking place. 3. Individual assistance and coordination will be the responsibility of the Planning and Community Development Department - Human Services Division and the Human Resources Department based on the needs of those affected by the incident, the scale and impact of the incident, and available resources. As recovery activities are introduced, close coordination will be required between those responsible for recovery activities, and NGOs providing recovery assistance. See ESF-14 Long-term recovery. ---PAGE BREAK--- City of Redmond Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan ESF-6, Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services, August 2015 2 4. The American Red Cross (ARC), in cooperation and coordination with King County and the City of Redmond, may provide mass care to those affected by an incident as part of a broad program of disaster relief. 5. The ARC assumes primary agency responsibility under the National Response Framework (NRF) to coordinate federal response assistance to mass care response and the efforts of other NGOs, including ARC relief operations. 6. Mass Care includes: a. Dormitory Shelters If facilities for sleeping are needed, the following may be required: the use of designated shelter sites in existing structures, creation of temporary facilities such as tent cities, or the temporary construction of shelters, and use of similar facilities outside the affected area if evacuation becomes necessary. These temporary shelters should provide protection from normal weather conditions. b. Pet Shelters Disasters have shown time and again that many people will not leave their pets behind in a disaster. Consequently, shelter planning must take pets into account. Ideally, pet shelters will be located in close proximity to dormitory shelters so that owners can easily care for their pets and derive comfort from them. At the same time, pets will ideally be kept separate from the dormitory area to avoid allergy and sanitation issues. c. Warming/Cooling Centers In the event of a heat wave that is deemed to be extreme enough and long enough to pose risk to vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, cooling centers with air conditioning and water should be provided for public use. Such provision may be as simple as advertising air-conditioned public facilities and encouraging people to move out of the heat and visit them. If an incident occurs in the winter months that debilitates power or gas heating, warming centers should be established to provide warm areas for those unable to heat their homes. Coordinate with ESF-2 Communications and Warning and King County OEM to advertise such cooling/heating centers. d. Feeding Through a combination of fixed sites, mobile feeding units, and bulk food distribution, emergency workers and impacted persons will be provided with food and water. Such operations will be based on sound nutritional standards and will include provisions for meeting dietary requirements of those affected with special dietary needs to the extent possible. If it becomes necessary, disaster food stamps may be requested from WA State. e. Emergency First Aid Emergency first aid services may be provided to victims and workers at mass care facilities and at designated sites within the affected area. This emergency first aid ---PAGE BREAK--- City of Redmond Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan ESF-6, Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services, August 2015 3 service is supplemental to emergency health and medical services established to meet the needs of those affected. f. Bulk Distribution of Emergency Relief Items Community Point of Distribution (CPOD) sites will be established within the affected area for distribution of emergency relief items, like water, as needed. The bulk distribution of these relief items will be determined by the urgent need for essential items by those affected by the incident. II. POLICIES 1. Activities within ESF-6 Mass Care, Housing and Human Services will be conducted in accordance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National Response Framework (NRF) and will use the Incident Command System (ICS). 2. The American Red Cross Shelter Operation Workbook will be used as the template for all shelter operations within Redmond and all of King County. The City of Redmond Parks and Recreation Department has primary responsibility for coordinating activities under ESF-6 within Redmond. The day to day organizational structure of City of Redmond Departments will be maintained as much as feasible during emergency situations. 3. Multi-jurisdictional resources will be used as available. Depending on the incident, collaboration in larger regional shelter activities may be more efficient than multiple neighboring jurisdictions establishing their own smaller shelters. 4. Services will be provided without regard to economic status or racial, religious, political, ethnic, or other affiliation. The priority of providing food and water will be to areas of acute need followed by areas of moderate need. 5. Information on casualties evacuated from the affected area to other medial facilities will be restricted to information provided by the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) tracking capability or by the capabilities of WATrac (Washington Tracking Resources, Alerts and Communications). The listing of event related deaths will be limited to fatalities officially confirmed by the coroner. III. SITUATION A. INCIDENT CONDITIONS AND HAZARDS See the City of Redmond Basic CEMP for a description of potential emergency conditions (Mitigation Activities section) and vulnerable population information (Access and Functional Needs section). ---PAGE BREAK--- City of Redmond Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan ESF-6, Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services, August 2015 4 B. PLANNING ASSUMPTIONS 1. No guarantee of a perfect response system is expressed or implied by this ESF. The City of Redmond will make every reasonable effort to respond based on the situation, information, and resources available at the time of the incident. 2. Available resources may become limited due to high demand in a large-scale incident. 3. All departments are required to support this ESF as necessary. 4. A large-scale incident may deprive substantial numbers of people access to the means to prepare food and obtain water. In addition to substantial disruption to the commercial supply and distribution network, an incident may partially or totally destroy food products stored in the affected area. For example, food may spoil due to lack of refrigeration. 5. Mass care shelter facilities will receive priority consideration for structural inspections to ensure safety of occupants and the continuation of essential functions. 6. Large numbers of private residences and businesses may receive major damage and people may be displaced for seven days or more. Dormitory Shelters may need to be set up for these people. 7. During an incident, there will be populations requiring special attention. These groups include the elderly, children, pets, service animals, individuals who have limited English language proficiency, and those with disabilities. See the City of Redmond Basic CEMP for additional vulnerable population information (Access and Functional Needs section). 8. Feeding, shelter, and emergency first aid services will be provided as soon as the City has the capacity to do so. 9. A high percentage of the water supply may be unusable, requiring juices or potable water supplies to be made available. 10. Sheltering and feeding activities may be required to accommodate victims for a number of days after the onset of the incident. 11. Some victims may go to dormitory shelters, others may find shelter with friends and relatives, and many victims will remain with or near their damaged homes. 12. The magnitude of the incident may require the operation of large long-term shelters because some percentage of the sheltered population will require shelter for an extended period of time. 13. Many of the more seriously injured will be transported to hospitals outside the incident area, some of them hundreds of miles away. 14. Some medical facilities may be so over-taxed that accurate record keeping of treated, released, hospitalized, and transferred individuals may be impossible. 15. The restoration of communication systems, disrupted by damages and overloads, may take weeks. ---PAGE BREAK--- City of Redmond Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan ESF-6, Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services, August 2015 5 IV. CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS A. GENERAL 1. Parks and Recreation will work with coordinating organization counterparts to obtain needed support. Requests for assistance will be initiated by the Parks and Recreation Department and forwarded to the Redmond Emergency Coordination Center (ECC). 2. For nutrition assistance, the Human Services Manager is the point of contact and coordinates the City’s response activities through the Redmond ECC. 3. Support organizations will be notified and expected to provide 24-hour representation, as necessary. Support organizations’ representatives will have sufficient knowledge of the capabilities and resources of their agencies, with appropriate authorities to commit resources to the response and recovery effort. 4. ESF-6 support agencies will notify their essential employees to report to the appropriate locations as designated. B. PROCEDURES Disaster services will be in accordance with the City of Redmond Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP). The Parks Department, in coordination with City agencies and NGOs will establish emergency feeding and shelter areas for impacted persons residing in Redmond. Requests for logistical support including: facilities, supplies, equipment, and personnel will be through the ECC. C. PREVENTION AND MITIGATION ACTIVITIES 1. Review the Redmond Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) as a department and discuss implementation and mitigation strategies. 2. Establish an emergency food and water program for City Departments and employees to work together to improve City Resilience. City Departments should strive to develop sufficient emergency food and water supplies in City facilities over the long term to support the majority of City employees for a minimum of seven days. City employees should also be encouraged to develop self-sufficiency. As their part of the preparedness partnership, employees should prepare their own emergency kits, including food, water, and personal comfort items, for work, home, and vehicles. 3. Assess and implement emergency human services relief programs in coordination with volunteer agencies. 4. Coordinate emergency plans with regional hospitals and health consortia. ---PAGE BREAK--- City of Redmond Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan ESF-6, Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services, August 2015 6 D. PREPAREDNESS ACTIVITIES 1. Plan, develop and coordinate the utilization of City properties for temporary emergency shelters, staging areas, treatment areas, and Community Points of Distribution (CPODs). Coordinate and develop plans with NGOs for use of their appropriate facilities. 2. Develop partnership plans with Redmond Citizen Corps Council (RCCC) and its affiliates, such as Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES), Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) and Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). 3. Develop plans and procedures for emergency worker shelter operations in coordination with the Director of Emergency Preparedness (Fire Chief). 4. Develop partnerships with additional agencies as appropriate, including Lake Washington School District, Regional Animal Services of King County, pet supply stores, Humane Society, etc. E. RESPONSE ACTIVITIES 1. Initial response activities focus on meeting urgent mass care needs of those affected by the incident. 2. Coordinate mass care activities with support agencies and volunteer organizations. 3. Operate or coordinate operation of emergency shelters. 4. Coordinate required mass care services. 5. Provide meals at fixed feeding locations and provide mobile feeding, as required. 6. Coordinate emergency first aid services in shelters, fixed feeding sites, and emergency first aid stations. 7. Provide potable water and ice. 8. Coordinate bulk emergency relief items, as needed. 9. Coordinate shelters and feeding stations. 10. Coordinate transportation and needed supplies with the ECC. 11. Coordinate communications between shelters, feeding stations, points of distribution, and relief operation locations. 12. Provide essential resources such as cots, blankets, and sleeping bags, as requested. 13. Maintain contact with the NGO and ARC representatives via the Redmond ECC. F. RECOVERY ACTIVITIES 1. Continue to operate emergency worker shelter(s). ---PAGE BREAK--- City of Redmond Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan ESF-6, Mass Care, Housing, and Human Services, August 2015 7 2. Coordinate the establishment of Disaster Assistance Centers to support community recovery efforts. 3. Create After-Action and Lessons Learned Reports. V. RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Provide for the sheltering, feeding, and mass care of persons affected by an incident. 2. Coordinate the provision and distribution of food and water for mass feeding and the provision of transportation to distribute food and water stocks. VI. RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS 1. Support agencies will provide representatives, on a 24-hour basis, to the Redmond ECC and shelter locations as required or requested. 2. Mobilized resources, in support of City mass care activities, may include the transportation of cots and blankets, air mattresses, sleeping bags, portable toilets, water containers, cooking equipment, registration forms, first aid and shelter medical supplies, vehicles for transport of personnel and supplies, comfort and cleanup kits, portable lamps, generators, fans, office supplies, and tables and chairs. 3. Support organizations or agencies are responsible for their own transportation. 4. Available undamaged facilities may have to be augmented by tents and mobile homes from outside the area. 5. All requests for additional assistance, including resources through Mutual Aid Agreements, will be coordinated through the Redmond ECC. VII. FURTHER MATERIALS FOR REFERENCE 1. American Red Cross Disaster Services Regulations and Procedures (ARC 3000 Series). 2. City of Redmond Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) and King County Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan See the Resources section of the Redmond CEMP Basic Plan or the Emergency Plans page in the Public Safety section of www.redmond.gov for links. 3. King County Regional Coordination Framework (Disaster Plan) 4. King County (WA State Homeland Security Region 6) Strategic Plan 5. Refer to primary and supporting departments’ plans for further information supporting this ESF.