Volpe Center Highlights - May/June 2003
Focus
Director's Notes |
Focus |
Safety |
Mobility and Economic Growth
Human and Natural Environment |
Organizational Excellence |
Homeland Security
Awards |
Papers and Presentations
The Volpe Center is planning the next phase of "Connecting Communities," a successful series of forums to help transit and emergency response agencies in communities across the nation prepare for emergency situations. |
Connecting Communities: Emergency Preparedness and Security Forums (FTA)
Lessons learned from transit and emergency personnel who responded on September 11, 2001, indicate that three factors helped them make a difference that day: 1) they had emergency response plans in place;
2) they had practiced according to the plans; and 3) their leaders had formed trusted relationships. Since September 11, 2001, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has made it a priority to help ensure that every community knows how to respond to emergencies. Critical to this effort are emergency training programs that include the latest information on safety and disaster preparation planning.
Over the past year, the Volpe Center has supported the FTA by designing and administering a series of 17 forums across the country. The series, "Connecting Communities: Emergency Preparedness and Security Forums," has successfully engaged more than 1,800 professionals from local transit, police, fire, medical response, and city/state emergency management communities. Mr. Bob Adduci of the Railroad Systems Division leads the Volpe team.
Volpe team leader Bob Adduci facilitates the Connecting Communities forums. |
Enabling Interagency Coordination
Transit systems rely heavily on other emergency responders during system emergencies, and in certain crisis situations, transit can play a key role in response. The Connecting Communities forums help transportation and emergency response agencies work together to prepare and protect their community with coordination, communication, planning, and practice of safety and security measures. The program has helped create local networks for the facilitation of future drills and emergency plans, with the objective of enhancing the nation's ability to respond to emergencies.
Who Attends
Participants include:
- Transit agency management, transit police, and security personnel
- Police and fire personnel responsible for emergency management
- Emergency medical service and hospital disaster relief coordinators; and
- State and local government emergency management coordinators.
Every community should know the answers to these questions.
• Who will lead incident command during a transit emergency: police, fire, or transit officials?
• Does your team know how to gain access to a disabled train or bus during an emergency?
• What role can your community's transit agency play during a non-transit emergency?
• Are you organized to share resources and assets during a regional emergency?
• Does your team know how to handle a biohazard event safely?
• Does your community's emergency response plan include all the right players? Can they communicate effectively during an incident?
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What They Learn
Through interactive exercises including emergency scenarios, breakout discussions, and presentations, participants:
- Identify the people, organizations, procedures, equipment, and facilities needed for an effective emergency management program;
- Understand how the interaction of these elements affects the management of emergency situations;
- Learn about the existing local transit system emergency management, disaster recovery, and security plans;
- Understand the role of the transit agency in responding to emergency/disaster situations in the community; and
- Explore how to activate alternative transportation during a crisis.
Attendees develop useful networks with fellow transit, police, fire, medical response, and emergency management officials. They also receive educational resources to help them share the lessons learned from the forums with their agency's employees.
Building on Success
In response to the success of the program, the FTA has requested several additional forums, some of which will reach out to rural areas of the country. Accordingly, in April, Mr. Adduci facilitated a workshop to review the Connecting Communities Forums program with the core team of forum facilitators and FTA Office of Safety and Security Director Harry Saporta. The workshop, held at the Volpe Center, focused on updating the program content according to recent security initiatives and developing materials relevant to small and rural communities.
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