Readiness Report: Celebrating our 911 professionals

The Oregon Department of Emergency Management recognizes April 9-15 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, an annual event honoring the critical role emergency response coordination professionals play in keeping the nation’s communities safe and secure.

Here in Oregon, we have 43 standalone 911 centers known as Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) that serve as the first and single point of contact for people seeking immediate relief during an emergency. Nearly 800 dedicated telecommunicators across the state answer at least 2 million emergency calls annually for law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services. These 911 professionals respond to emergency calls, dispatch emergency professionals and equipment, and render life-saving assistance in times of intense personal crises and community-wide disasters.

Oregon’s 911 telecommunicators are heroes devoted to public safety and helping others. They work long hours, remaining calm in all types of situations and quickly constructing plans of action based on limited information. These individuals are lifelines in an emergency, and this annual observance honors their skills, dedication and commitment to helping Oregonians.

Some 911 professionals are certified as emergency medical dispatchers (EMDs), emergency fire dispatchers (EFDs) or emergency police dispatchers (EPDs). All 911 professionals work diligently behind the scenes to help citizens during emergencies ranging from mental health crises, car accidents, missing person reports, burglaries and domestic violence disturbances.

On any given day, these public safety dispatchers have an incredibly stressful job. Since early 2020, Oregon's public safety telecommunicators have had the added responsibility of serving throughout a pandemic, historic wildfires, heatwaves, winter storms, floods and severe staffing shortages in which they were the first to answer the call. National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week brings well-deserved attention and recognition to these invaluable professionals. We thank them for their unwavering service and dedication to Oregonians every single day.

All my best,

Matt Garrett
Interim Director, Oregon Department of Emergency Management

April 5 is the National Weather Service’s annual #SafePlaceSelfie Day. One of the most essential preparedness actions anyone can do is to identify their safe locations from various extreme weather threats. Knowing where to go, or not to go, ahead of time can minimize hesitation and ensure decisions are good ones. The NWS encourages people to identify their safe places and post a selfie on social media on April 5 using the hashtag #SafePlaceSelfie.

The Oregon Health Authority AmeriCorps VISTA Partnership Project aims to alleviate, prevent and reduce poverty by engaging new public health professionals in a year of full-time service in major public health organizations to create or expand public health systems capacity. The project is currently recruiting for six VISTA positions around the state and two VISTA leaders to serve in Portland starting May 8. Applications are open through April 12. Positions are posted at OHA AmeriCorps VISTA Positions by Region.

FEMA is spearheading an effort to create National Resilience Guidance and resources for the whole community to help everyone understand and fulfill their critical roles related to increasing national resilience. These resources will promote a common understanding of resilience, incorporate the relationship between stressors and shocks, address the critical roles of all stakeholders, and inspire fresh, forward-looking, and people-centered planning approaches to move the needle on increasing community and national resilience. FEMA is hosting a series of 60-minute listening sessions to gather input from across the whole community to inform the development of actionable resilience guidance and resources. These sessions will include facilitated discussions with a range of stakeholders. Advance registration is required; to register, click on the preferred session below:

Listening Session 1: 10 a.m. on April 13  |  Listening Session 2: 10 a.m. on April 25

Listening Session 3: noon on May 9  |  Listening Session 4: 10 a.m. on May 25

Listening Session 5: 10 a.m. on June 6  |  Listening Session 6: noon on June 15 

OEM recently reviewed and updated the State Preparedness and Incident Response Equipment (SPIRE) grant program process based on feedback from the first two processes. This week, each region’s county, tribal and city emergency managers will be meeting to make recommendations on priorities and equipment needed, based on recent data. These recommendations will be forwarded to a statewide committee to review and finalize for the Homeland Security Council. If recommended equipment falls under an agency’s Emergency Support Function, OEM wants to ensure that it’s not duplicating equipment and that the equipment meets interoperability requirements. The statewide committee meeting is scheduled for 3-4:30 p.m. on April 13 on Teams. Any agency interested in attending can send a point of contact to oem.spire@oem.oregon.gov and they’ll be sent a meeting invite.

OEM’s accounting team is hosting monthly office hours on Microsoft Teams to answer questions for submitting and documenting Requests for Reimbursements (RFR) for Hazard Mitigation Assistance grants. Office hours allow for discussions and problem-solving as subrecipient awardees work through RFR documentation. Office hours will be held at 2 p.m. on the following dates: 4/26, 5/31, 6/28, 7/26, 8/23, 9/27, 10/25, 11/29 and 12/20. Click here to join (Meeting ID: 299 758 424 784 Passcode: R9G3i8). Anyone needing more assistance can request a meeting with an HMA accountant by emailing oem.hazardmitigation@oem.oregon.gov.

The NWS Public Weather Services Program will host a heat webinar for partners and users from 11 a.m. to noon on April 20. The webinar will provide information on NWS heat-related products and services issued across the agency covering a continuum of timescales. This will include products from the Climate Prediction Center, Weather Prediction Center and local Weather Forecast Offices. The objective is to ensure partners and users know how to find and use necessary weather information to proactively make informed decisions. The webinar is open to all NWS partners and users, including Weather-Ready Nation Ambassadors, media, emergency management, and federal, state, tribal and local governments. Click here to register.

The Oregon Fire Chiefs Association (OFCA) spring conference will take place April 26-28 at the Riverhouse on the Deschutes in Bend. Join fire chiefs and chief officers from across the state for 2.5 days of training, updates from important fire organizations, connection with fire service partners and networking. Click here to learn more and register. 

Insurance is step one of protecting personal belongings. FEMA is hosting a webinar from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on April 27 featuring insurance experts who will discuss how to become better financially prepared for future disasters, including what to consider when adding coverage to a policy, how insurance works after a disaster hits, and best practices when planning for the future. There will be time for questions and room for discussion. Click here to register in advance.

AmeriCorps has released a notice of funding opportunity for the FY 2023 Volunteer Generation Fund, a competitive grant opportunity to develop and support community-based entities to recruit, manage and support volunteers. The Volunteer Generation Fund is open to local nonprofit, community, faith-based, tribal, state and local governments, and schools. Click here to learn more; the application deadline is May 16. 

The Climate Change Preparedness Conference 2023 will take place May 18-20 in Washington, D.C. The event unites climate experts, government officials and policymakers, community organizers, youth leaders, environmental professionals, and other stakeholders from around the country to focus on adaptive solutions to foster climate resilience. Click here for more information and to register. 

The State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) funds a range of activities designed to prepare for, respond to and recover from acts of terrorism. The FY23 SHSP grant application window has opened. All local and tribal application packets must be submitted to OEM through the tribal or county emergency manager; OEM will only accept applications that come from the 45 county and tribal points of contact authorized to submit applications through Basecamp. Applications must be submitted to Basecamp before 10 p.m. on June 15. The SHSP webpage has been updated with program guidance and application forms. OEM regional coordinators will set up training and technical assistance workshops between now and June 1.

On April 1 the National Interagency Fire Center issued its National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook, April - July. Normal (i.e., very low) risk of significant fires is expected over the Northwest Geographic Area until July when areas of central and southeast Oregon and central Washington are forecast to have an above-normal potential for significant fires. Standing dead light fuels buildup reported in central Washington and southeast Oregon are considered substantial enough to warrant the elevated significant fire risk beginning in July. Ongoing extreme drought in central Oregon will also contribute to the above-normal potential.

Applications for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) 2023 Rural EMS Training Grant Program are now being accepted. SAMHSA encourages rural EMS agencies (both fire-based and non-fire based) operated by a local or tribal government, as well as rural non-profit EMS agencies, to apply. The goal of the program is to recruit and train EMS personnel in rural areas with a particular focus on addressing substance use disorders and co-occurring disorders substance use and mental disorders. Click here to learn more and apply.

Small nonfarm businesses in seven Oregon counties are eligible to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration to offset economic losses due to reduced revenues caused by drought. Small nonfarm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size in Harney, Lake, Malheur, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Wallowa counties may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred. Click here to learn more and apply by Nov. 17.  

The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) has released the winter 2023 edition of Oregon GEO, the quarterly newsletter of DOGAMI's Geological Survey & Services (GS&S) program. The G&S program develops maps, reports and data to help Oregon manage natural resources and prepare for natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, floods, volcanoes, coastal erosion and climate change. The most recent issue provides links to four recent DOGAMI reports designed to help communities identify and prioritize mitigation actions that will improve community resilience. The reports include a Multi-Hazard Risk Report for the City of Cottage Grove; a Landslide Inventory Report for Wallowa County; a Multi-Hazard Risk Report for Tillamook County; and an Earthquake and Tsunami Impact Analysis for Coastal Lane, Douglas and Coos Counties.

HERO Kids Registry is a voluntary, no-cost system that lets any Oregon family share critical information about their child’s health before an emergency. The information can be quickly and easily accessed by emergency medical services and hospital emergency department providers. HERO Kids is for any Oregon child or young adult (through age 26). It's especially useful for young people with complicated or chronic health conditions and for those who experience developmental disabilities or mental health conditions. Click here to learn more and register a child or young adult. 

On March 3, 911 communications went down in parts of Marion County. METCOM 911 provides emergency telecommunications services to 36 communities located in Marion County and portions of Linn and Clackamas Counties. To restore communications, a Verizon modem on House Mountain near Mill City needed to be reset. At an elevation of nearly 4,000 feet, House Mountain was snowed in and not reachable by normal means of travel. Unfortunately, the county’s snowcat was out of service and its all-terrain vehicle with snow tracks wouldn’t make it through the snow depth.

Program Coordinator Krista Carter of Marion County Emergency Management reached out to Linn County Emergency Manager Ric Lentz for help. The timing was perfect, as Lentz and his staff had just completed snowcat training and were happy to offer assistance. Carter connected Lentz with Marion County Fleet Shop Supervisor Michael Pierce, who was overseeing the operation. METCOM had a backup in place for the weekend, so the mission was carried out on March 6. Radio Technician Richard Grabotin and three Linn County deputies drove the snowcat to House Mountain and repaired the modem, restoring critical 911 services to the region.

When the question of cost came up, Lentz assured Marion County there would be no charge, saying, "This is partners helping partners, that’s what we do.” For Carter and Lentz, this was just another example of Oregon’s stellar emergency management community coming together to help one another out in a time of need!