Director's Report for January 2015

Telephone Calls - 21,486
Fire Incidents - 880
EMS Incidents - 3,633
Police Incidents - 27,847

Voice Radio Project:
-Of the 27 tower sites we will be using, we have completed the legal and financial process at 23 sites and have released the sites to Harris for their work to begin.
-Cutover is scheduled for 1 January 2016 with Final System Acceptance 21 April 2016.
-Harris held two P25 System Administrator training sessions for County Staff, Metropolitan Communications and ACD Telecom.

New CAD System:
-Fire and EMS data and generic response stream input has been completed.  Police have been completed.
-A majority of efforts in December and January were spent getting amendments finalized with Intergraph.  The Commissioners approved the upgrade amendments to Version 9.3 on 29 January.
-A new schedule is being generated.  The new agreed upon cutover date is September 2015 with final project completion estimated January 2016.

Training Facility:
-Kiddie Fire Trainers continues to work on installing the burn props in the drill tower.  The Tactical Village is on track to be operational in April.
-Facilities, Finance, Procurement, DES and the emergency responders continue working with Manns Woodward to design the Law Enforcement Firing Range.  We anticipate construction bid documents being issued in April and construction beginning late summer.
-Last month we hosted 877 people at 40 events.

Director's Report - December 2014

Telephone Calls - 21, 912; 707 per day

Fire Incidents - 773

EMS Incidents - 3,447

Police Incidents - 25,903

Voice Radio Project:

-Of the 27 tower sites, we have completed the legal and financial process at 21 sites and have released the sites to Harris for their work to begin

-The fully-redundant Network Switching Centers, the brains of the radio system, were brought on-line and are communicating with each other at the GSC and the Forestville Tower

-Harris held two P25 System Overview training sessions for County Staff, Metropolitan Communications, ACD Telecomm, and emergency responders

New CAD System:

-Data and response stream input continues.  Police have been completed.

-Responder input (Police, Fire and EMS) for Mobile Data configuration continues.

-A map update workshop was held.

Training Facility:

-Construction of buildings in the Tactical Village has been completed.  Electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and gas fire prop work continues.  The Tactical Village is on track to be operational in April.  

Southeastern PA Regional Task Force:

-The Chester County Health Department received Medical Field Clinic Trunks.  These trunks bring medical supplies and equipment into the community during a public health emergency and better equip them to serve a role when deployed to a Red Cross shelter.

-The Chester County Detectives received computer forensics software.  This software better equips them to examine portable devices such as cellular telephones.

Chester County Employee Graduates from FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute

Emmitsburg, MD- Heather Morgan, Training and Exercise Coordinator for the Chester County Department of Emergency Services graduated from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Emergency Management Basic Academy at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) on September 18, 2014. 

EMI has created the National Emergency Basic Academy to produce a comprehensive curriculum that provides the foundational knowledge and skills needed to support the unpredictable challenges in the field of emergency management. 

Morgan completed the five courses in the Basic Academy that includes Foundations of Emergency Management; Science of Disaster; Planning: Emergency Operations; Exercise Design; and Public Information and Warning.  To graduate, she fulfilled a total of 167 hours of training.   

The Basic Academy is the first phase of FEMA’s new Emergency Management Professional Program (EMPP).  The EMPP curriculum is designed to be a lifetime of learning for emergency managers and includes three separate, but closely related, training programs. The National Emergency Management Basic Academy is a gateway for individuals pursuing a career in emergency management. The National Emergency Management Leaders Academy is designed for emerging leaders and mid-level managers who lead emergency management programs and want to advance their skillset. The Executive Academy is designed for senior-level executives who are responsible for making decisions that have a significant effect on prevention, protection and mitigation policy or the management of disaster response and recovery.

This past week, Heather received a citation from the Commissioners for her continued dedication to ensure the safety of Chester County citizens.

Amy Kate Amer

Community Outreach Coordinator

Chester County Department of Emergency Services

DES Employee wins Award for his Map 2nd Year in a Row

Award given at International Conference       

West Chester, PA – At the ESRI International Conference held in San Diego, CA, this past July, Dave Sekkes, Emergency Planning Coordinator for DES was honored with a first place award for Best Analytic Presentation. 

As a part of the ESRI International Conference they offer a Map Gallery.  The Map Gallery consists of 13 categories and provides an opportunity for conference attendees to share GIS work by showcasing innovative printed maps. 

Dave received the Best Analytic Presentation.  This judges entrants on communication of the problem/project to be solved; presentation of the analytic procedures; relevance of the problem-solving methods to the analysis – complexity and logic of analysis; and, integration of cartographic principles with analytic processes. 

For his submission, Dave performed an analysis of the 164 emergency warning sirens that have been strategically placed throughout the three-county Limerick Generating Station Emergency Planning Zone. 

In the event of a siren failure during an emergency at the Limerick plant, local fire companies will perform what’s known as “route alerting” as an alternative means to notify the public.  Dave utilized GIS to explore updating the route alert sectors in order to optimize the efficiency of the response to a siren failure.  The study found that 40% of the Emergency Planning Zone had redundant siren coverage and the drive-times to alert the public could be greatly reduced by focusing the alerting to those areas without redundant coverage. 

This is the second consecutive year that Dave has won an award for his maps at this conference.  Last year, Dave won a first place award for Best Data Integration where he examined the Marsh Creek Dam inundation zone using new building footprint software.

Dave utilizes the GIS to provide analysis and mapping support in the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during activations and to the department as a whole during daily operations.  Additionally, Dave provides technical support for department IT initiatives.  Dave has worked with GIS at Chester County since 2002 beginning with the Health Department and joining DES in 2008.

This past week, Dave received a citation from the Commissioners for his continued award winning maps.

Amy Kate Amer

Community Outreach Coordinator

Chester County Department of Emergency Services

Director's Report - November 2014

For the month of November, 2014:

Emergency Telephone Calls - 21, 827

      728 Per Day

Fire Incidents - 889

EMS Incidents - 3,124

Police Incidents - 26,547

Voice Radio Project:

-Of the 27 tower sites we will be using, we have completed the legal and financial process at 21 sites and have released these sites to Harris for their work to begin.

-Site construction has begun at 17 sites.

CAD Project:

-Data and response stream input continues

-Responder input (Police, Fire and EMS) for Mobile Data configuration continues

-New request for additional interface with Knowledge Center

-Investigating new enhancements for capabilities

Training Facility:

-Construction continues at the Tactical Village.  Last month the Drill Tower and Burn Building structural work was completed.

-Design meetings for the firing range with architect, facilities and emergency responders continue.

-Last month we hosted 1,506 people at 71 events.

Tactical Village Construction pictures can be seen on our website at www.chesco.org/des 

Director's Report - September 2014

Telephone Calls for the month - 23,883  796 per day
Fire Incidents - 814
EMS Incidents - 3,344
Police Incidents - 28,103

Voice Radio Project:
-Of the 27 tower sites we will be using, we have completed the legal and financial process at 20 sites and have released the sites to Harris for their work to begin.
-Site construction has begun on 15 sites.

New CAD Project:
-Data and response stream input continues.
-Responder input for Mobile Data configuration continues
-New request for additional interface with Knowledge Center
-Investigating new enhancements for capabilities

Public Safety Training Campus:
-Construction continues on the Tactical Village.  The Drill Tower fourth floor has begun and the Burn Building upper floors completed.  Visit our website for pictures - www.chesco.org/des
-Preliminary design meeting for the firing range was held with the Architect, County Facilities Department and emergency responders.
-Last month we hosted 1,861 people at 62 events.

SE PA Regional Task Force:
-188-portable Honda Generators were distributed to 38 municipalities' public works departments and emergency management agencies throughout the County.  These generators were ear marked to assist municipalities in keeping their traffic lights operational during large power outages.  The following municipalities received these generators:
Atglen Borough                                              Schuylkill Township
Birmingham Township                                   South Coventry Township
Caln Township                                                Spring City Borough
Charlestown Township                                   Tredyffrin Township
City of Coatesville                                          Uwchlan Township
Downingtown Borough                                   Valley Township
East Bradford Township                                 West Chester University
East Brandywine Township                            West Bradford Township
East Goshen Township                                    West Brandywine Township
East Whiteland Township                                West Caln Township
Honey Brook Borough                                     West Chester Borough
Kennett Square Borough                                  West Fallowfield Township
London Grove Township                                 West Grove Borough
Malvern Borough                                              West Pikeland Township
New Garden Township                                     West Sadsbury Township
North Coventry Township                                West Vincent Township
Parkesburg Borough                                          West Whiteland Township
Penn Township                                                  Westtown Township
Phoenixville Borough                                        Willistown Township

Director's Report - June 2014

Telephone calls - 24,480 for month -- 816 per day
Fire Incidents - 829
EMS Incidents - 3,260
Police Incidents - 28,155

Voice Radio Project:
-15 tower sites have been released to Harris for their work to begin
-Tower strengthening has been completed at Pocopson and Government Services Center sites
-We are exploring options regarding a microwave system router obsolescence issue.

CAD Project:
-Data and response stream input continues
-Working with EMS to utilize AVL responses for 2nd due
-Responder input for mobile data configuration continues
-Continuing to work on interfaces to replace Glynare paging terminals

Public Safety Training Campus:
-Construction continues at the Tactical Village.
     -Second floor of Drill Tower completed
     -Foundation for Burn Building has been started
     -Block walls are being erected for the Admin Building/Outdoor classroom
     -Work continues on the garages


Submitted by
Acting Director John Haynes