Disaster Preparedness Projects
Montgomery County Training and Exercises
Situated near Philadelphia and consisting of 24 boroughs and 38 townships, Montgomery County is a vital commerce center for the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys and the third-most populated county in Pennsylvania, with over 750,000 residents. Recognizing the important role it plays in providing for the protection, vitality, and resiliency of its constituents and the continued delivery of critical services, the County, through the Public Safety Department, contracted Delta to provide professional services in the delivery of three multidisciplinary and interagency Tabletop Exercises (TTXs) and associated training.
Pandemic Influenza Tabletop Exercise
Delta Development Group conducted a Pandemic Influenza Tabletop Exercise for the Delmarva Regional Healthcare Mutual Aid Group (DRHMAG) that was designed to initiate a discussion of the medical surge capabilities of the healthcare system on the Delaware, Eastern Shore of Maryland, and Eastern Shore of Virginia Peninsula. The exercise provided participants the opportunity to explore medical surge plans, policies, and procedures through an examination of a response to a pandemic influenza scenario.
Delaware State Hospital Evacuation Standard Operating Guideline
While preparing to conduct a tabletop exercise, the State of Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH), Public Health Preparedness Section identified areas where the existing draft version of the Delaware State Hospital Evacuation Standard Operating Guideline (SOG) required additional clarification and details based upon previous reviews of the SOG. Due to the experience and quality of Delta’s Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Solutions (EPRRS) team, Delaware DPH contracted Delta’s EPRRS team to review and revise the SOG brief the draft SOG, to all stakeholders, and finalize the document.
Hazard Vulnerability Assessment and Hazard Mitigation Plan Update
The Huntingdon County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and Planning Department required assistance in updating the County’s 2004 Hazard Vulnerability Assessment (HVA) and Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP), in accordance with the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000). The HVA and HMP needed to complement the existing County Comprehensive Plan and Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), ensure maximum and efficient utilization of all County resources, minimize the loss of life and/ or injury to the population, protect and conserve resources and facilities during emergencies, and preserve mutual aid agreements.
Lancaster County EOP and RERP Revisions
The Lancaster County Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) required updating to bring it in consonance with the most recent version of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s State Emergency Operations Plan. In addition, Lancaster County wished to consolidate its two off-site Radiological Emergency Response Plans (RERPs) for incidents at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station and the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station into a single document while converting the plans into true annexes of the all-hazard Lancaster County EOP. The Lancaster County Emergency Management Agency (LEMA) wanted to ensure that the updated document met the criteria of NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1.
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Plan Revisions
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) recognized the need for 14 of Pennsylvania’s counties to update their hazard mitigation plans (HMPs) within a few months of each other. Delta, as a subcontractor to Michael Baker, Jr., Inc., was tasked with working with emergency management agency and planning commission representatives of Adams, Fulton, Lycoming, and Somerset Counties, to update the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)- approved HMPs for each county. The updated HMPs were required to identify and analyze additional hazards that the counties might face, document the status of each county’s mitigation strategy since the HMPs were first approved, and meet the current requirements of 44 CFR 201, while following the standardized mitigation planning process established by PEMA.
North Central Task Force (PA) EMS Mass Casualty Incident Full-Scale Exercise
The North Central Task Force (NCTF) is composed of the following Pennsylvania counties: Potter, Tioga, Bradford, Clinton, Lycoming, Sullivan, and Union. After developing a mass casualty plan for the NCTF, the EMS Subcommittee wanted to exercise the plan and determine how well it would work during a simulated attack on a large number of people. It was determined that a Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)-compliant full-scale exercise (FSE) was needed to explore the plan.
PA DOH Continuity of Operations Plan and Senior Leader Seminar
In September 2008, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) engaged Delta in a process to develop an executable Continuity of Operations (COOP) plan and design, and to deliver an exercise to educate and train its workforce. With the specter of an influenza pandemic ever present, PA DOH needed independent validation of its COOP planning efforts to date and an assessment of the impact of federal guidance on pandemic influenza planning, as well as increased awareness of COOP plans, policies, and procedures among its senior leaders.
PA DOH Emergency Plan Development, Revision, and Synchronization Process
As the primary agency responsible for coordinating the state’s preparedness for, response to, and recovery from public health emergencies, the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s (PA DOH) Office of Public Health Preparedness (OPHP) sought assistance to review and assess PA DOH’s current state of emergency planning, and to establish an enterprise-wide process for plan alignment, development, revision, and synchronization. A key lesson learned from the 2009 Novel Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic was that Pennsylvania needed to improve the alignment of public health emergency plans with planning efforts from the state to local levels. This planning process needed to conform to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, and other agency guidance and regulation on emergency preparedness activities and emergency management programs.
PA DOH Health and Medical Services Surge Capacity Planning - Phases I and II
In June 2008 and again in February 2009, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) engaged Delta to develop a series of statewide, jurisdiction-based guidance documents addressing the topic of Health and Medical Services Surge Capacity. The aim was to assist local communities across the Commonwealth in developing a consistent approach to surge capacity planning and preparedness. Additionally, PA DOH had a need to conduct outreach to key stakeholders, build strategic partnerships, and form coalitions to help in advancing this critical initiative