Humans and Information: Managing a herd of cats.

I was talking to a project manager the other day about our common struggle: information systems management. We argued the various pros and cons of software designed to organize teams and information (’cause we’re nerds). As our conversation progressed over issues of human error and information tagging, I got to thinking about the similarities of maintaining knowledge and maintaining groups.

Group dynamics and information sharing are inextricably linked in a number of ways. On top of that–or maybe because of that–maintaining groups and information systems takes a lot of the same resources and methodology. Here are some links between the two:

Link #1: Group relationships (i.e. ‘cohesion’) effect how information is shared.

Rupert Brown says in Group Processes (2000) that the more tightly bonded group members feel to one another, the more likely they are to share information–whether it’s useful or not. However, tightly cohesive groups tend to be more isolated from the environment so their information can become repetitive or outdated. On the other hand, loosely associated groups tend not to share all information with everyone, but the information they do have tends to be unique and up to date because of the members’ contact with non-group members. Therefore, managing the groups dynamics directly influences the play of information throughout the group.

Side note: On the flip side of the coin, we might be able to say that information directly influences group relationships. If young adult drama-dies have taught me anything, it’s that a rumor can make or break a friendship.

Link #2: More people effect group maintenance. More information effects system maintenance.

Network theory (and common sense) states that the more nodes a network has, the more complex the network is. Just think about how your family’s dynamics changed after your sister married that guy. Adding a node (brother-in-law) to Thanksgiving dinner changed the dynamic of the network (family). Moreover, larger networks with more complex arrangements require more resources in order to maintain them. For information systems, this might mean more people or more time spent on data entry. For groups, it might mean more time and energy spent on group-building activities, managing rumors, or resolving conflict, etc.

Side note: I suspect that the larger and more complex the network, the more inertia it develops which is why very large groups (like governments) take so long to respond to changes in the environment (like a world-wide economic downturn).

Link #3: Information systems management is necessarily human systems management.

Collaboration not only requires that we share information, but that we share information in a way we can all recognize, access, and manipulate. Each team member must be trained in a standardized method for handling group information. We all have to use the same file-naming system, the same date system, the same tags. Furthermore, as we alluded in Link 2: a) the more types of information there is to be handled, the more complex the system for managing it becomes and b) the more people handling the information, the more complex the system for managing it becomes. Information management is directly dependent on group management.

This link seems to be where project managers and emergency managers spend so much of their time. It seems like we’re all struggling to get everyone else to manage information correctly.

Link #4: The person who manages group life also tends to manage information flow. 

It’s easier to spot in small, informal groups, but in every group there is a gatekeeper. A gatekeeper is a person who manages access to benefits which they do not own. For instance, access to the boss, a spot on the agenda, or access to illicit information (like rumors or secrets which they may trade for more political capital).

I, personally, like to think of the gatekeeper as someone who manages the group’s Transactive Memory System (TMS) which is a fancy sociological term for knowing who knows what. Usually, the gatekeeper is well connected in the group and–especially if they’ve been there a long time–generally knows who knows what. They are a valuable resource for members as they can direct them to those members with the expertise or connections they need. Gatekeepers control information flow in the group in a very direct way.

Here’s where I go out on a theoretical limb. We’ve experienced often how information gets stymied during a crisis and a lot of research (including my own) is focused around how to open the channels of communication. What if part of the problem of information flow is that the gatekeeper gets overwhelmed by requests literally or figuratively? What if they don’t prioritize information correctly and let something important drop? What if they can’t help the group efficiently because there’s too much noise (i.e. the opposite of data) to process requests for information/expertise?

So the solution might be to decentralize gatekeeping duties across the whole group (or at least more members), but then you run into the increased maintenance cost of more people handling information.  Hmm….

Conclusion: 

There seems to be an intimate association between handling group members and handling information. They take a lot of the same resources and processes and the cost in terms of time and effort of maintaining each seemed to be linked. Each individual may have a limit to how much information they can process at one time, necessitating collaboration with other individuals. But collaboration is inherently more costly as networks increase in complexity. Therefore, managers must cleverly walk the delicate line between too little and too much information, between too few and too many team members.

So if you ever feel like the system should behave better than it is, keep in mind: you’re actually managing two related, yet unique systems. Problem in one might be symptoms of problems in the other.

Day in the Fields: Volunteering at the Special Olympics NA Golf Tournament

I’m taking a task-less moment to document the fun I’ve been having. This is Day Two of my volunteering gig I got with the Emergency Management Group-Washington who is deployed to support the North American Golf Championship for the Special Olympics.

Yesterday, I was on the Seattle campus of University of Washington (UW) in a little conference room in the basement of a faraway building watching various monitors and chasing details. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) takes note of potential threats, plans, daily schedules, contact information for liaising groups, keeps radios charged, and holds first aid equipment for off duty med staffers. It is the information hub and it’s run–today at least–by 4 hardworking, always cheerful, and ever-dedicated women and overseen by the experienced and knowledgeable Director who sometimes drops by to fix the wobbly internet. I sat at a long table with my tiny laptop and watched TweetDeck (our Twitter aggregator) update languidly. I delved deep into the hinterlands of NOAA to find the exact right weather report for tomorrow. (We need to tell the med tent if they should expect heat stroke). I listened to a UW representative who had dropped by for a radio describe what their crisis management office was up to. It was a quiet day–pretty much ideal for our line of work.

Today, I’m following the Director around on the golf course itself. We’re mostly based at the med tent which is staffed with two doctors and two EMTs on golf carts. It’s very quiet today and comfortably cool. We’ve had some radio problems, but otherwise all is running smoothly.

While we are here to protect the health and safety of the athletes and volunteers, we’re also treating this as a practice run for The Special Olympics golf tournament in 2018 which will see thousands more athletes, and many more spectators and volunteers. We’re collecting notes and opinions about the event to include in an After Action Report which will help us plan next year better.

We take a break in the clubhouse (where there’s power outlets) to gather some information. Yesterday, we heard about a townhall meeting being hosted on the UW campus concerning an incendiary social-justice topic. There might be protesters which line or block the path our athletes were going to use to get home tonight. No one is expecting the protectors to be violent, but we’ve also seen how these things quickly escalate and it’s our job to be extra safety-conscious especially since we’re supporting our own sometimes-vulnerable population. So the leadership staff spent last evening developing an alternate transportation plan and today, the Director made the finishing touches and sent it out to all his staff. My job was to research and verify the protest (we’d heard conflicting reports). I felt all my Millenial training come to my aid–finally it was good for something–as I scoured the internet for signs of unrest. Exactly one of the words I reported made it into the plan. And it was paraphrased.

Still, I like contributing. I’m learning a lot and am grateful for the opportunity to meet my ilk. Here’s to those behind the scenes. Great job.

Update: Nothing happened at the protests. The athletes were walked home via a different path and didn’t even seem to notice the change. I’m glad.

 

Mind over Manufacturing: what do to when the system defeats you.

I have many hobbies, one of which is sewing, and lately I’ve become enamored with Japanese folk textiles. Specifically boro. (Special thanks to Sri Threads for many of the pictures.)

I like boro textiles because they are burdened with more than the “waste not, want not”, Great Depression-style resourcefulness I grew up with. The Japanese (from my limited understanding) have a more nuanced relationship with waste, repair, and beauty. That Wikipedia link above includes tangential concepts that are beautifully exemplified by boro textiles. For instance: kintsugi or the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold which has come to symbolize that history is what makes a piece beautiful. Or the exclamation “mottainai” which means “what a waste!” and comes from a Shinto belief that objects have souls. (Remember how Marie Kondo thanks her shoes for doing a good day’s work and some how–even though she knows it’s silly–it makes her feel better about herself and her possessions?) Westerners–especially this new generation of self-sufficient, economically/ecologically conscious ones– we may hate waste, but do we lament waste as a minor death?

Take a look at these boro textiles again and their sashiko stitching which both strengthens the delicate hemp cloth and beautifies it (we might call it wabi-sabi, perhaps). Did you know that sometimes, the Japanese would recycle thread from old clothes to do this? Imagine painstakingly pulling out each stitch so you could reuse the thread instead of simply cutting the seam apart.

So, as an artist, I got all fired up about the sustainability of hand stitching when my heater broke. True, it was an old heater, but if it was old, it should be simpler to fix, no? Just a matter of finding an expert. But I couldn’t fix it. No one made the parts for it, and I couldn’t get to the broken bit anyway. I was left with a blanket around my shoulders helpless to save the world from our booming landfills.

 

An early 19th c. American quilt made out of feed sacks. A western frugality. Courtesy of QuiltHistory.com

Then, I went on the internet and happened to discover planned obsolescence, or the strategy of shortening a products usable life by design. Sometimes this means aesthetically (clothes and cars do this since their materials often are more durable than fashion houses and auto brands would prefer. Although, don’t get me started on fast fashion: so shoddy that even Africa is starting to reject our secondhand clothes.) Sometimes planned obsolescence means simply designing things that can’t be repaired. Like clothes dryer drums molded to the machine so you can’t replace the part that breaks; watches and phones that are one piece so you can’t get inside to replace a battery without destroying them; or printer ink cartridges that lie about how much ink is left.

 

 

Credit: Ray Van Eng Photography | Getty Images

As an Emergency Manager and socially-conscious person, I’m trained to promote self-sufficiency and sustainability. We commonly think that it’s a matter of laziness; that if we can get people to care enough, they would make an emergency kit, build up a pantry, and stop living so wastefully. But I do care. I love boro cloth and I still can’t stop living wastefully. 

 

Kate Fletcher wrote a paper about emotional durability. In it, she critiques our focus on durability as a product of good design, material, and construction processes and suggests that psychological factors also make a thing durable.

The logic goes like this:

• Some scientists have claimed that you can get people to hang on to goods longer if you cause them to form an emotional attachment to the object.
• That’s true, but usually people who form attachments to objects collect them and store them instead of using them.
• Fletcher did some ethnography and claims:  “… while mending and altering were common, the physical durability of the garment per se appears less critical to the piece’s durability than a user’s habit of mind fostering long-term use” (p.231)

In other words, durability has more to do with how you treat an object than how long its materials last. Here’s an example Fletcher gives in page 232. I do recommend clicking through so you can see the picture:

A Life of Action “I call this my three stage jacket. It began about forty years ago as a very slim waistcoat that was given to me. I knitted a panel and put it into the back just to be able to fasten it together at the front, you see. And then about fifteen years ago I added sleeves and a collar and some trimmings. And then, only about five years ago, I became a bit too big to button it up so I added latchets across to the front so that I can fasten it.” (Figure 1)

She goes on to recommend (with others) that the fashion industry–and I would add, society at large–change from “ownership” to “usership”. Fletcher urges the fashion industry to design garments that require collaboration with the wearer; that can be used for more than one occasion or fashion period; that can be altered and passed down. I think that that applies to all objects. Before you bring an object in to your house, think about whether or not you would enjoy using it as opposed to whether or not you would enjoy having it. Changing your identity from an owner to a user opens up many possibilities for adaptation in the future.

Of course, it’s also your responsibility to develop (or find someone who has developed) the technical skills to make those adaptions such as knitting, gluing, composting, and hammering. It also means you are responsible for properly cleaning, maintaining, and storing your objects. This summer I was the recipient of a 50 year old cast iron pressure canner in near-mint condition because the original owner was meticulous about cleaning it. I mean: marine-level clean. It’s perfect. And now it’s my turn to keep it that way.

But it’s all worth it. Just ask any crafter how much fun it is to reuse a thing you thought was dead.

Credit: clothing designers CoolHunting

Disaster Jokes

I’m not just posting this to kill time until I can write something truly profound. It’s also really funny.

From our friends at XKCD.com

Hope Dogs in the EOC: Comfort in times of crisis

EMScholar Exercises

This is part of a series about the largest disaster exercise conducted in Washington State history called Cascadia Rising, 2016. See the other blogs here.

You know immediately when they arrive because the whole room gravitates toward their wake.

“Did you see the Hope Dogs?” someone asks me.

“What are Hope Dogs?” I ask heading toward a growing crowd in a corner. Oscar and Pickles are therapy dogs who work for the non-profit organization Hope Animal-Assisted Crisis Response (Hope AACR). They are part of an elite team that not only has animal-assisted therapy certification and experience but are also screened for suitability in a crisis response environment. Teams receive extensive training in Incident Command System (a standardized way we organize crisis response), first aid/CPR, emotional first aid, crisis communication, and special stress management techniques for work in the field along side first responders.

Founded in September 2001, Hope Dogs provided emotional support victims at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks. Hope Dogs are called out nationally to attend policeman memorials, Operation Purple camps (for military kids), and natural disasters. They work closely in conjunction with FEMA and the Red Cross and were happy to practice with us at Cascadia Rising.

Molly Fischer (right) with Oscar and Raquel Lackey (left) with Pickles

Molly Fischer sits comfortably on the floor with a gentle Oscar. He gives me soulful eyes until I pat him. Hope Dogs first began as emotional support for victims of natural disasters but gradually, the organization began to see a need to support the responders themselves. Fischer started working with FEMA staff during the 2014 Oso, Washington landslide. “It’s such a rewarding thing when you walk into a building where everything is so tense [like that]” she says, “When we walk into a room, it’s all smiles.” She invites another person to pet Oscar. “Snohomish [county] was the smoothest-operating EOC because of the dogs” she says proudly. They were able to relax and focus on the response. “Dogs are amazing at that.”

Pickles and another Hope Dog look across the valley to the Oso landslide. Pic courtesy of Cal EOC.

Pickles and handler Raquel Lackey join us. They were at Oso too a day after the landslide while search and rescue were still happening. She describes how exhausting it was for the dogs to sponge up all that emotional stress. They need a break every other day and then a longer break after about three weeks. They never use dogs under 2 years old because it can be too stressful for the puppies and they only use dogs who are highly tolerant of new things and stressed people. After, Oso, she took the dogs to the beach for a couple days were there was no one around.

 

Still… she says, they can get depressed if they don’t work for a while.
“How do you know when it’s time to go back to work?” I ask
“They’ll tell you. This one,” she nudges a tail-wagging Pickles, “will approach people on the street for pets” she laughs.

I wonder aloud why the dogs need practice when they seem to be such naturals. “Our minds know this is an exercise but our bodies don’t” Fischer tells me. Lackey nods. “You’ll notice the dogs can identify who’s the most stressed.” Oscar puts his head in someone’s lap. Both he and the person seem grateful for the head scratches.

If you’d like to support these intrepid therapy dogs and the volunteers who give up their time to support first responders and victims, do visit their page to see all the different ways you can help.

 

Further Reading: Cascadia Rising in the News

This is part of a series about the largest disaster exercise conducted in Washington State history called Cascadia Rising, 2016. See the other blogs here.

Here’s some articles I found with another perspective on Cascadia Rising.

• FEMA Headquarters did a fun live-blog for the duration. They asked bloggers from different areas of the response to post photos and write a few sentences. (Yours truly was featured a couple of times, too.)
• A very thorough account of how an earthquake/tsunami would affect the Puget Sound area as well as details about the players in Tacoma. Check out the beautiful map.
• A story done about the Navy and National Guard practicing in the field with real paratroop drops, docking vessels, and helicopter fly-overs. I was told that both the military and national guard were doing their own training concurrently with Cascadia Rising, but I was unable to ask more about it. Glad to have seen this story to get another perspective!
• Really  nice overview of the exercise with quotes from around the state and beautiful pictures from the Seattle Times.
• More details about National Guard maneuvers on Vashon Island and an interesting tidbit on how the local radio station also played along with the Exercise.
• The Navy and Coastguard practice building docks to deliver supplies at Port Townsend, Port Angeles and others. During this kind of event, one of the best ways to deliver help will be via water. The military has both super cool tech and super cool expertise.
• Behind the scenes look at a county Emergency Operations Center. Another facet I was unable to see first hand. Interesting!
• The National Guard build tent city in Mason County. Governor Inslee visits.
• Describing Idaho’s involvement.

Cascadia in the News

• Good brief overview. Lists other concurrent training.
• From KXRO on the coast
• An opinion piece from an EM’s perspective on how the 2011 Japanese earthquake caused us to believe a Cascadia-level event is possible.
• Interview with Ex-FEMA Region Director cum Snohomish Emergency Managemet Director about Cascadia Rising
• Concerning Oregon’s hospitals.
• From FEMA Region X
• From Idaho ARES (amateur radio). Includes videos that were used behind the scenes as “injects” or scenario setters for the players. Also a few maps.
• From Oregon state. Also includes links on how to prepare.

Preliminarry Lessons Learned and After Action Reports

• From Gray’s Harbor and surrounding area.
• From Oregon’s National Guard special teams.
• From Oregon, general.
• From the Wa Peninsula with a bent toward citizen actions.
• From Port Townsend
• From Port Angeles

General Info about Earthquakes and Tsunamis in this area

• Beautiful, beautiful infographic-blog about the history of earthquakes in Washington with a timeline, maps showing all the faults, etc. A MUST READ.
• Lists of Tsunami and inundation hazard maps from British Columbia to California. Really good resource.
• Earthquake maps
• About the geographical and cultural history of the Cascadia region.
• Earthquake advanced warning system.
• In depth look at geological, meterological science behind earthquakes, tsunamis, and liquefaction on Oregon coast (applicable to Washington as well). Lots of maps.
• Great article from the New Yorker. Includes maps from British Columbia to Oregon.

Preparedness Links:

• On earthquakes
• Building a kit
• On how to prepare your business
• For kids
• How to make a communications plan for your family
• Red Cross help pages.
• From Washington (topics on earthquakes, pets, children, and more)
• From Oregon (but good info for all of us on the coast. Also, beautiful, printable brochure)
• Tsunami brochure

When Coms are Down (who you gonna call?)

EMScholar exercises 

This is part of a series about the largest disaster exercise conducted in Washington State history called Cascadia Rising, 2016. See the other blogs here.

As a Communication’s major, I was never really that interested in communication technologies (except for Twitter. Those case studies are super cool). Then, one day, I married an IT guy. Over the years, I’ve picked up enough geek-speak that when I passed by some funky looking antenna, I was a) curious and b) able to appear somewhat competent to the person explaining them to me. Here’s what I learned (stay with me, it’s super interesting):

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During the first day of the Cascadia Rising Exercise, 2016, the Washington State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) pretended that it had lost phones and internet. The SEOC floor was quiet and sluggish. People prepped paperwork, anticipating the flood of need when the phone lines came up. A few people were using cell phones and satellite phones to get information about the disaster from the counties (called “situational awareness” or sometimes “ground truth”).

Across the hall, the ham radio operators were hunched in close to their speakers trying to distinguish fuzzy connections. These volunteers are part of RACES (rhymes with trees), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service which activates to help in an emergency. The “amateur” in their name is a reference to the FCC’s designation of the band of radio waves they use; NOT a reference to their skill level. These guys are pros.

Amateur radio operators set up in a quiet room.

Amateur, or ham operators help the EOC if their phones and email are down.

This ham radio operator is trying to reach radio operators in the counties.

If being without phones and internet is distressful normally, imagine being responsible for disaster response without any way to easily connect to your field teams. That’s why getting coms up is first priority for disaster managers. The military (and some civilian companies) have developed ultra-light gear that can be set up for immediate connection.

The Beachball or the “Gatr”

FEMA has brought an inflatable satellite in the shape of a 6 ft white ball. The “dish” itself is merely a reflective fabric on the inside of the ball while the skinny LNB arm juts out of the ball a few inches. The pressure of the air and the round shape of the ball keeps the dish in the correct parabolic shape while also keeping it at the right focusing distance (according to the manufacturer’s website). The whole thing fits in two to four storage-bin sized chests and can be working in about 6 hours. Most of that time is spent trying to manually find the satellite connection. The ball has to be tethered down in  8 spots to keep it from rocking or shifting in the wind. The manufacturer claims that the round shape actually makes it more stable in the wind. Still, one FEMA tech guy admits he far prefers the MERS or Mobile Emergency Response System because the satellites lock automatically. It was probably better before they switched satellite providers, he tells me. Even so, the beach ball can provide cheap high-bandwith to a mobile team fairly quickly and with very light equipment. Ideal for first responders. Theoretically, you could air drop it into impassable areas.

Fun fact: Gatr is the name of the company that sells them.

The Beachball can fit into 4 small cases and be set up by one or two people.

Inflating the satellite.

In the lower right, you can see the small laptop and a few cables. All it takes to find a satellite.

Some prefer a round mount because you can adjust in two axes at once.

The ball is cross-tethered in 8 points to keep it from rolling

The LNB arm is the only external part of the satellite dish.

Satellite found. Network provided to emergency personnel.

The Portable KU-band Satellite Dish: A bit larger and set up nearby is a portable ground-mounted satellite dish. It takes a bit longer to set up and fits in twice as many cases. But seems to serve a few more people.

The portable KU-band satellite.

A comparison of the inflatable and portable satellite dishes

The larger, stiff dish fits in many more cases and gets put on a trailer.

MERS: Mobile Emergency Response System. An office on wheels

The MERS that the FEMA tech prefers is a small camper with a satellite dish on top. Inside is all the telecommunications equipment you might want: VOIP (internet phones), wifi, radios, and video/audio equipment. A tiny conference table in the middle seats 4 with more work spaces along the counter. The truck can provide 40 people in a building nearby with phone or internet or provide 10 people working in the truck with phones AND internet. The truck can be loaded onto a Boeing-137 or C-5 plane for transport into disaster areas. While it is more stable and a little more powerful, it also requires cleared roads. The military has a similar vehicle (see second left).

The FEMA Mobile Emergency Response System (MERS)

North Command’s mobile satellite.

Inside the FEMA MERS

Pretty nice conferencing system inside.

and a few work spaces.

The MERS trucks can drive right onto a C-5 like this one and be dropped off near disaster areas. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Charlie Miller)

 

Cell Trucks

A Sprint truck deploys in the Cascadia Rising Exercise. Many cell service providers routinely practice with disaster personnel.

Of the same size as the MERS are a variety of “cell on light trucks”. All the cell providers have mobile teams who deploy to disaster zones with these trucks in order to re-establish cell service while their permanent cell towers are being fixed. The truck deploys a 70 ft antenna and a satellite dish supported by a generator that can run for 1-2 weeks depending on how hot it is. The equipment inside the truck needs to be kept cool, so much of the generator fuel is used for that. The truck can support about 600 simultaneous users which is about the capability of a regular cell tower. Also, many of the the cell providers–according to Sprint–bring phones to the disaster area. They can pre-load contacts and provide them to field agents who can then use them to edit and share maps, communicate with search and rescue personnel, send and receive email, etc.

The best of the best is spelled JISCC. The Joint Incident Site Communications Capability.

The JISCC (rhymes with wisk) is run by the National Guard and represents the pinnacle of ability. It was the spidery JISCC antenna that I had spotted deployed on a strip of land and which piqued my curiosity. I felt especially honored and grateful to be given a guided tour of the whole operation (special thanks to a major who wishes to remain anonymous who gave me over an hour of his time). Unfortunately, I was only able to get photos of the outside of the JISCC. I will do my best to describe the inside.

The JISCC does everything. Twice. First, I was shown a tiny closet where a young airman hunched over a box with 6 inch screen in the lid and buttons and wires all inside it. That grainy picture, I was told, was the feed from the helicopter flying over the (pretend) disaster area. The National Guard command was working with the state to get visuals of different areas to guide search and rescue or assess damage. The JISCC was helping to collect that video. The helicopter camera was equipped with infrared so that we could use it at night.

Next, I was shown the main room where about 6 Guardsman (not including the lonely airman in the closet) worked on folding tables next to racks of equipment in a very cool room. In one corner was a chest high cabinet of radios. All kinds of radios: HF, VHF, UHF. The radios have cross-band repeaters for better range. Two guardsmen fiddled with dials trying to clear up the signal from the Puget Sound area. The radios can also talk to cell phones. Handy, I think. You can even send email over the radio, he tells me. I look dubiously at him. It sounds like a fax, he says, and on the other end, you have a computer which translates it into words again for you. This is one kind of interoperability that the National Guard strives for: communication between different kinds of technology.

On the wall to the left was a bank of routers for phones and computers. The JISCC brings light laptops and other equipment so you could conceivably talk to anyone on anything.

Outside, it’s 90 degrees; uncomfortably hot for us northwesterners. That’s one of the benefits of working in the JISCC, my guide says, laughing. The equipment has to stay cool, so you stay cool too. We walk over to a cordoned off area and he points out the antenna one by one.

 

Front: the antenna receives helicopter feed for the National Guard. Back right: the pole supports thin wires which collect HF radio waves.

The stico (named after it’s manufacturer) is an interoperable RF antenna. There’s also a VHF/UHF antenna, and a satellite dish which automatically finds the satellite. It’s point and shoot, he says. Just set it and go. The especially tall one with the funny spikes is the antenna receiving the helicopter feed. Next to it is a pole with wires attached to a tree and the ground. The wires are the antenna, he tells me, not the pole like you might think. It receives HF radio and this design makes it extremely light and packable.

A few steps away is the trailer and truck that all this goes on. It’s surprisingly small. In the field, the trailer can be set up with all the radio and router equipment from inside and air conditioned to keep it cool. I see a few fold-up chairs left in the truck. The whole thing can be loaded onto a C-130 and only needs a 6 person team. They’re currently thinking about ways the equipment can be air-dropped to affected areas. The only trouble is: if they drop it and wheels can’t get to it, then you’re stuck. And if wheels could get to it, why would you need to drop it?

All the JISCC equipment fits in this trailer and truck.

All the equipment can be offloaded by hand. The back of the truck has a lift that takes crates to the ground for you.

The whole thing can drive onto this C-130.

My guide recalled how the National Guard JISCC team was called up last summer during the fires. The fireman had brought their own equipment to their base camp (an actual campground) but discovered that they were stuck in a valley. Their line-of -site satellite phones and radios didn’t work. They needed the National Guard’s communications support. They also found that having email and a fax machine on base was extremely helpful for organizing firefighter schedules and payment. 

“What’s the one thing you wish you could tell people.” I asked him. He paused squinting into the bright, unblemished sky. “We provide communication capability to people who are coming to help you,” he replied. 

As I walked back toward the cool, dark of the SEOC, I couldn’t help but be very grateful to the engineers, IT guys, and other geeky types who designed, ran, and maintained this equipment. From the individual volunteer HAM operators, to the portable satellites, the heavier MERS teams, and private cell trucks, to the wonderfully robust National Guard JISCC: all are important pieces to the response network. We couldn’t do it without them.

A (Theoretical) Day in the Life of the EOC

This is a fictionalized account of a day in the State Emergency Operation’s Center during a pretend earthquake/tsunami disaster. This account is not real and should not be panicked about. For background information, please do see our previous blogs about the Cascadia Rising Exercise, 2016.

While I was participating in the exercise, I found it difficult to describe the work happening around me to friends. There are so many little pieces to keep track of and so many vague abbreviations and tasks to do. I thought a fictionalized “day in the life” might be both helpful and fun. This is a pretend day two when the responders have a good sense of the tasks before them, but still have a lot to do. Federal agents are on the scene and communications have been re-established so work is in full swing. I chose this day so that you can see the very wide variety and scope of problems that the State EOC had to deal with and the many different people helping. The meeting schedule is taken from several real meeting schedules that Cascadia Rising used though some things were edited for clarity and for drama. 

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The State EOC floor (SEOC)

7:30 am: Shift Change Briefing. All state Emergency Operations Center (EOC) staff attend a meeting for getting updated on the disaster. Editor’s Note: For the Cascadia Rising Exercise, the night shift was “notional” which means it only existed on paper. Controllers delivered “injects” or pre-conceived, pretend-facts that the players have to respond to. 

Last night, there was an aftershock and several gas lines lit fires. Pierce county needs fire trucks and state EOC employees are working to see who can supply them. Maybe the Department of Natural Resources? How about the National Guard?

 

SEOC Supervisor orients the morning shift

He describes the updated situation and gives the objectives for the day.

The EOC section chiefs organize their staff in response to the objectives.

 

8:30 am: Unified Coordination Group (UCG) Objectives Meeting. “Review and identify incident objectives for the next operational period.” Planning staff from all levels and branches of the government meet to discuss tomorrows priorities while operations staff work on today’s priorities.

Today we’re working on search and rescue, fire suppression establishing shelters, and assessing the damage to “critical infrastructure” like hospitals and police stations. Tomorrow, we should work on road clearing, getting fuel to vehicles in the field, getting the power grid back up, and sending food and water to shelters. 

8:30 am: Command and General Staff Meeting:

The operations staff meet to discuss today’s priorities called “objectives”. (They were approved last night by the planning staff). The EOC supervisor briefs his Operations Chiefs and the Disaster Manager who will later need to liaise with the planning staff and politicians. Today, we’re working on search and rescue, mass care (medical care, housing, etc), damage assessment, fire suppression, road clearing, fuel line and power grid repairs, and body collection and identification. The operation’s staff are tracking more than 100 requests for help from the counties and tribes.

FEMA arrives.

FEMA arrives with their own communications equipment.

9:00 am: State Emergency Management Declaration Meeting

Disaster Manager and Deputy

The Disaster Manager and other officials meet to decide whether this emergency is bad enough to warrant an official Disaster Declaration request by the governor. It is. In fact, the President has anticipated this and is standing by to grant the request immediately. 

The EOC is relieved to hear that they have received a Presidential Disaster Declaration. Now they can easily receive Federal aid.

9:15 am: The Media Arrive: They want to know about the disaster declaration and the status of the response. They work closely with the SEOC to get important life-saving messages out to the people. Fun Fact: The media really did come into the SEOC during Cascadia Rising. The Governor did a pretend news briefing, and then the cameras came into the SEOC to interview the FEMA Region 10 Director and the Lead Controller about the exercise itself.

The media is an important link for getting life-saving information to the public.

This cameraman is getting b-roll of the SEOC floor supervisor running the general staff meeting.

Lead Controller, Lit Dudley, talks about the exercise.

 

9:30 am: Fuel Task Force Meeting: How many lines are broken? How can we fix them?Who needs the fuel? How can we get them fuel for emergency use?

9:30 am: FEMA National Call: FEMA field agents meet with their national headquarters, military officials, and state officials via teleconferencing equipment. They compare notes and discuss resource requests. For instance, can the military let us use some helicopters for search and rescue operations, and some planes for fire suppression?

FEMA coordinates with the military and Federal government to provide support to the state.

9:30 am: ESF 15 Local/State Coordination Call

Public Information Officers from FEMA, the state, the tribes, and counties, meet to discuss what to tell the public. 

People are beginning to ask what to do with the bodies they’ve discovered. 
What can we tell people about when power will be back up? 

The State EOC floor listens to the local jurisdictions on speaker.

10:00 am: Tribal and Local Jurisdiction Conference Call

The conference call is piped in over the speakers onto the EOC floor. The EOC floor supervisor takes role call. Most of the counties have joined the call. One by one, they describe their needs and their own response activities. The King County emergency operation’s center had to move to their secondary site due to damage to their building. They give the group their new address and phone number. Klallam tribe has opened their casino and hotels as a shelter. Thurston county is stranded. Both Hwy 101 and the Nisqually bridge are damaged. The State asks the Army Corps of Engineers to see if they can fix the bridge and/or clear Hwy 101.

10:00 am: Critical Infrastructure Task Force

The task force members meet to update the incident map with damaged buildings, ports, and roads. They begin to prioritize needs. If we can fix some ports in Puget Sound, a navy vessel can bring supplies up from California. It might be faster than trying to clear enough roads to get trucks through. 

The fuel-line fires are threatening some fueling stations. 

10:30 am: Debris Task Force

US Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), US Coast Guard, Department of Transit, and Department of Ecology and others meet to discuss clearing roads and power lines.

The National Guard uses the critical infrastructure damage data to prioritize debris removal.

The Coast Guard considers ports and bridges

The Army Corps of Engineers sends crews to help.

Active military personnel support with helicopters, heavy trucks, and other specialized equipment.

11:00 am: Mass Care Conference Call with Local Jurisdictions

The Mass Care Taskforce needs to know more about which hospitals are functional, how many shelters should be set up, and to hear about what local jurisdictions need. Klallam tribe’s shelter is beginning to receive evacuees with pets. What should we do with them? The Red Cross is starting a blood drive and the Salvation Army is beginning to process donations.

The Mass Care Taskforce helps decide where to put shelters.

They work with private agencies to supply shelters and hospitals.

They find a quiet room to work in.

 

11:30 pm: Lunch is served by building support staff.

12:00 pm: Draft requests for tomorrow due to Operations Section Chief

The State EOC operations staff have been tracking requests and make recommendations for tomorrow’s objectives. The various taskforces have recommendations too.

1:00 pm: EOC Update Briefing

The State EOC staff pause to get on the same page with one another. The state meteorologist gives a forecast. Incoming rain is good news for fire suppression but bad news for mass care shelters. They might need more tarps. The Public Information Officer finally gets an answer from the Department of Health about what to tell survivors about how to handle bodies. The Department of Ecology need hazmat teams to assess oil spills in the area. 

The Disaster Manager listens in to the SEOC briefing.

The Disaster Manager will take this information to elected officials and others.

 

1:30 pm: Oil and Hazmat Coordination Group. US Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, State Department of Natural Resources, and State Department of Ecology meet to coordinate hazmat work.

2:00 pm: Congressional Conference Call

Disaster Manager and others call Washington, Oregon, Idaho, congressional delegations and other Federal partners to give an update of the situation. 

One Washington state congresswoman is concerned about the damage to agriculture. Even though it’s very early in the response, the EOC staff do their best to give some projections to the congresswoman so she can prepare to help her constituents during long-term recovery.

2:30 pm: Power Task Force Meeting review and update strategies for getting the power back on.

3:00 pm: Tactics Meeting

Section chiefs, the State EOC supervisor, representatives from FEMA, the National Guard, and Northern Command (active duty military), meet to discuss tomorrow’s priorities. It takes a long time; there are many task assignments. A list of firefighting resources and contact info is added to the Joint Incident Action Plan. A last minute addition: Pierce county jail needs water and extra patrol. 

The Tactics Meeting is extremely crowded. They’ve had to move rooms several times.

FEMA-state liasons make sure nothing is being forgotten or doubled up.

Planners deliberate on priorities for tomorrow.

 

4:00 pm: Principals Conference Call

The Emergency Management Division Director, Disaster Manager, and agency executives meet to discuss incident status, policy issues, and strategic messaging. 

4:30 pm: UCG Huddle:

Coordinating officers (liaisons) meet to make sure inter-agency coordination is going well. Some state staff are having trouble using the FEMA request form.

5:00 pm: Elected Officials Call

Emergency Management Division Director, Disaster Manager, and the policy group, give an incident update to the Governor’s Chief of Staff and other elected officials. 

The Disaster Manager with others updates elected officials.

6:00 pm: Planning Meeting

Everyone takes a look at the Joint Incident Action Plan which is a document with all the objectives that the Tactics Meeting approved, assignment lists for tomorrow, contact information, maps, and tomorrow’s meeting schedule. When it’s approved, the document get’s uploaded to the State and FEMA’s online sharing environment where it will guide tomorrow’s work.

7:00 pm: Shift Change

The SEOC goes through tons of coffee.

Thousands of local, state, and federal staff including many branches of the military have worked all day (and night) to save lives and property. And they’ll do it again tomorrow.

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This is a dramatized account of a day in the State Emergency Operation’s Center during a pretend earthquake/tsunami disaster. This account is not real and should not be panicked about. 

The People of Cascadia Rising

This is part of a series about the largest disaster exercise conducted in Washington State history called Cascadia Rising, 2016. See the other blogs here.

Here is only a very small sampling of the 20,000 participants spread across three states and federal and military headquarters. These people were found in the Washington State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the surrounding campus. Mouse over the pictures to see more.

EOC Supervisor keeps the EOC floor running smoothly.

The state meteorologist keeps the EOC up to date on the weather which might affect sheltering or fire suppression.

The EOC section chiefs organize their staff in response to the objectives.

Planning organizes the EOC’s next steps.

Admin & Finance handle staffing issues within the EOC and track expenses for after the disaster.

Deborah Henderson (left) and Zoe Choate (right) schedule staff so that the EOC always runs smoothly.

Public Information Officer directs external relations staff to provide information to the public.

Logistics organizes state resources.

Amateur, or ham operators help the EOC if their phones and email are down.

Joe Benei from IT helps to maintain the EOC computers, audio/visual and conferencing equipment.

Lots of players are participating in the exercise. Here’s a few.

Steven Friedrich helps to draft news releases and monitor/respond to social media sites.

Rafael Estevez work closely with communications and command staff to translate messages for the public. He knows Spanish, Arabic, Korean, and American Sign Language.

The media is an important link for getting life-saving information to the public.

This cameraman is getting b-roll of the SEOC floor supervisor running the general staff meeting.

Wireless carriers deploy quick response trucks to reestablish cellular coverage.

GIS map makers update the EOC map with reported damages like broken fuel pipes, unpassable roads, collapsed bridges, etc.

The mass care workforce includes people who help displaced livestock and pets.

The National Guard supports the state with vehicles and manpower.

Active military prepare to mobilize helicopters, trucks, to help the state find survivors and clear roads.

FEMA personnel support state work with subject matter experts, funding, and by liaising with the military.

The Red Cross personnel help operations staff set up mass care shelters.

David Postman, Governor’s Chief of Staff, receives regular briefings.

The Emergency Management Director sets response priorities and directs resources.

Governor’s Policy Advisor on public safety, Jim Baumgart weighs in.

Chris liaises with state legislature to keep them up to date on the disaster response.

Observers from Pacific Command are here to see how Pacific Command interfaces with state and federal agencies.

Lit Dudley, Controller and Evaluator Lead talks to the media about how the exercise is administered.

Evaluators track the functioning of the players in the exercise and make recommendations for improvements.

Observers from University of Washington and other states or agencies study the exercise for ideas to take back to their own agencies.

Therapy dogs visit to bring a smile to victims and responders alike (profile in future blog).

Emergency Management Division staff provide much needed coffee and food. Truly a critical component of the EOC staff!

On the other side of I-5, staff at the Venue Control Center monitor exercise activity to see how well we did.

Cascadia Rising: Preamble

EMScholar exercises

 

This is part of a series about the largest disaster exercise conducted in Washington State history called Cascadia Rising, 2016. See the other blogs here.

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This blog series brought to you by the miraculous power of asking.

Unfortunately (according to some), I have been plagued since childhood by an innate desire to please people and bred by my mother’s perfect politeness to not get in the way. But through rigorous training administered by the loving type-A personalities in my life, I can now force myself to  knock softly on someone’s cubicle door–interrupting their day (gasp!)–and ask for something (double gasp!) with something approaching dignity and cheer.

That is how, via a terrifyingly casual handshake, I was introduced to Mr. Ed Taylor and Mr. Lit Dudley who are (more or less) in charge of Cascadia Rising 2016 Exercise. And how, after being brave, I was able to join the Controller Group which helps to administer the exercise, and how, after being even braver, I will be allowed to take photos and document the whole thing from start to finish.

Well, perhaps not from the very, very start. Cascadia Rising is a regional-wide earthquake and tsunami simulation which Taylor et al have been planning for two years. It involves around 20,000 players from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho including participants from Federal, county, tribal, and city agencies, and stand-a-lone businesses like hospitals, Amazon, the Red Cross, Northwest Natural Gas, Amtrak, etc. People from Alaska, California, FEMA, University of Washington, and South America are coming to observe how the players run this 4-day disaster simulation.

The exercise is named after the Cascadia fault off the Northwest coast. You might remember it from this post. The Cascadia Rising planners created a scenario in which a 9.0 magnitude “full-rip” earthquake along the 700-mile Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) fault causes subsequent tsunamis and aftershock which impact the Washington and Oregon coastline. They will deliver the “news” of this earthquake to the players across the region via simulated USGS maps and video. Then, the participants will have to respond. Local damages based on scientific projections have been pre-planned and each local controller is in charge of telling the players about outages or damages. For example (and hypothetically, since “ground truth” is a secret to the players), a county near the coast might discover that their local cell phone tower has been damaged, meaning cell phones are out as a means of contacting damage assessors in the field.

I’ll be stationed in Washington State’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) which will activate 107 state agency staff and 101 federal staff per shift. I’m looking forward to this station because the states are the conduit between local jurisdictions and federal partners. I will be at the hub of information processing, decision making, and direction giving. I can’t wait to see it all!

I hope you’ll join me for an inside look at an activated EOC this June.