(1) This field study reports a June 2003 visit to the Emergency Operations Center of Fairfax County, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, District of Columbia. The Emergency Operations Center is located at the Richard A. King Pine Ridge Facility at 3911 Woodburn Road in Annandale, Virginia. The Center is managed by the Fairfax County Emergency Management Office, is a division of the Fairfax County Police Department. The Emergency Management Office’s mission is “to reduce loss of life and property from all types of hazards through a comprehensive program of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery” (Fairfax County 2003 "Who We Are").
EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
(2) The Emergency Operations Center, constructed in 1987, is located above-grade in a moderate-sized, two-story brick building located a block from Little River Turnpike (Route 236), surrounded by residential neighborhoods. The Emergency Operations Center is on the first floor and is approximately 30 feet by 40 feet in area. Another room located behind the Center has three cubicles for permanent staff members, a storage area, and five small, narrow workstations along one wall for Center staff to use during an emergency. A third room that serves as a private office for the Coordinator of Emergency Management. The Emergency Operations Center is allowed to use space elsewhere in the building if it is needed for expansion in emergencies. Figure 1 provides a not-to-scale depiction of the arrangement of the three rooms.
EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS:
WORK SPACES. (3) The Emergency Operations Center has three square tables positioned in the room to serve as staff work stations. In addition, in one corner a cubicle holds five computers for dispatch, monitoring, and notification services. The work spaces are labeled for each agency.
PERSONNEL. (4) The County Executive serves as the Director of Emergency Management (Fairfax County 2003 "Who We Are"). During an emergency, he or she directs emergency operations and maintains communication with other jurisdictions in the region. During all other times, the daily operations of the Emergency Management Office fall to the Coordinator of Emergency Management, who receives assistance from his or her staff of a Deputy Coordinator of Emergency Management and two emergency management specialists (Jaskulski 2003).
(5) When a major emergency occurs and the Emergency Operations Center is activated with full staffing, up to 65 people from 20 agencies or organizations report to the facility. The top two officials from each agency work at the Center, while the remainder find space elsewhere. All staff members are required to bring the tools necessary to perform efficiently, including plans, laptop computers, and cellular telephones (Jaskulski 2003). Table 1 below lists the Fairfax County agencies and organizations that may report to the Emergency Operations Center during a disaster:
Table 1. Fairfax
County Government Agencies that Staff the Emergency Operations Center
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Source: Fairfax County 2001 "During an Emergency."
DISPLAYS AND COMPUTER SUPPORT. (6) The main room of the Emergency Operations Center has seven computers, four televisions, a facsimile machine, and a printer. Three of the walls are used for (1) the display of maps, (2) for whiteboards and a clock, and (3) using shelves and cabinets, for storage.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE. (7) The Emergency Operations Center uses Geographic Information Systems for mapping emergency events. The Geographic Information System graphically shows information and features such as hospitals, schools, transportation routes, building outlines, political boundaries, and property assessment data, among others, to help staff members make accurate decisions during an emergency incident. The graphic images can be supplemented with text to create command posts, evacuation zones, and shelters (Fairfax County 2003 "Geographic Information Systems").
(8) The Emergency Operations Center also accesses the Emergency Management Weather Information Network (commonly known as EMWIN).19 This computer system provides a satellite link to National Weather Service products, allowing the Emergency Management Office to monitor weather conditions in Fairfax County, and to provide current and accurate information to county residents and workers. The Center also has access to current Doppler weather radar data (Jaskulski 2003).
(9) Finally, the Emergency Operations Center uses both location reporting and remote sensing systems. A new automatic vehicle locator system uses a communications device placed on the roofs of emergency vehicles to track their locations at all times. In addition an airborne video system is used to monitor and respond to emergency incidents in the county. The live video is downlinked from the County Police helicopter, providing current information about an emergency site to the staff (Jaskulski 2003).
COMMUNICATIONS. (10) Several telephones are located at each table in the Emergency Operations Center and in the workstations. The telephones have both audio and visual displays. In the corner cubicle, there are five computers, one television, and two telephones, including a National Warning System (NAWAS) telephone. An Altaris computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system allows monitoring of police and fire crews in the field and assists in making decisions about needed resources. Notification capabilities are provided over the computers, telephones, and radios. The Emergency Operations Center can provide emergency notification information to television stations for dissemination using the Emergency Alerting System. There are also two facsimile machines that offer broadcast faxing capabilities.
(11) The facility uses a Motorola public safety radio system that allows it to communicate with most agencies. During an activation, the Emergency Operations Center has a roster of approximately 15 licensed radio operators who can be called to the facility for assistance (Jaskulski 2003).
(12) The Emergency Management Office is currently working to include all county agencies in the Fairfax County Emergency Alert Network, allowing emergency messages to be transmitted directly to computers, Blackberrys, facsimile machines, and telephones. Eventually, county residents will also be able to sign up on the network, allowing them to receive evacuation instructions and other important information via e-mail (Jaskulski 2003).
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES, FORMS, AND CHECKLISTS. (13) The Emergency Operations Center uses its own standard operating procedures, forms, and checklists, separate from the Emergency Operations Plan (Jaskulski 2003).
SURVIVABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY:
(14) The building is not hardened against natural hazards, nuclear attack, or terrorist attack. Exterior windows in the Emergency Operations Center may be vulnerable to high winds.
(15) Exterior perimeter control is not routinely provided. Security personnel staff the front entrance, and a visitor pass and appointment is required to proceed beyond the lobby. Lobby doors are locked at all times, with card controlled access.
(16) Emergency staff can remain in the building for extended periods of time. The Emergency Management Office has enough cots and sleeping bags for 100 people, and shower facilities are available in the building. Stores of food, potable water, and sanitation supplies allow for at least a week self-sufficiency. The Emergency Operations Center does not have an independent water or sewer system; backup water supply is provided by a large stock of five-gallon jugs of bottled water. Power is provided from two substations, with emergency power provided by a generator supplied with diesel fuel in underground storage tanks. Finally, the Center has a battery backup system that can provide power for critical systems for up to eight hours (Jaskulski 2003).
(17) The Emergency Operations Center has redundancy plans for all telephone, radio, and computer systems. There are at least three backup systems for each mode of communication. Satellite communications with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the county police and fire departments provides a final level of redundancy if necessary (Jaskulski 2003).
(18) The Emergency Management Office maintains a small Alternate Emergency Operations Center in Fairfax County, but it has only a skeleton supply of equipment (Jaskulski 2003).
USE:
(19) The Emergency Operations Center was last activated for approximately 16 hours on President’s Day Weekend in February 2003 for a major snowstorm. The Center was also activated for five days during the sniper shootings in the Washington area in October 2002 (Jaskulski 2003).
(20) On average, the facility is activated for exercises four times a year, with two full-scale exercises annually, and six to eight tabletop exercises. Once a year, the agencies assigned to each Emergency Support Function in the Fairfax County Emergency Operations Plan visit the Center, organized by function, to discuss plans with Emergency Management Office officials and compare the county Emergency Operations Plan with the agencies’ plans (Jaskulski 2003).
(21) The alternate facility was last activated five years ago. The Emergency Management Office performs a drill involving the alternate twice a year (Jaskulski 2003).
(22) In addition to the Emergency Operations Center, the Pine Ridge Facility also houses the Public Safety Communication Center and the Operations Support Bureau (Jaskulski 2003).
(23) The Washington metropolitan region, including Fairfax County, has experienced 16 heatwaves or droughts between 1918 and 2002. The region felt the impact to some degree of 20 hurricanes between 1903 and 2002. The region also experienced 17 major winter storms between 1900 and 2003 (Anderson 2003). The State of Virginia experiences 35 to 45 thunderstorm days each year (Watson 2001 "Virginia thunderstorms and"). Fairfax County itself was hit by 13 tornadoes, some of which were rated as F2 or F3 on the Fujita scale, between 1927 and 1996 (Watson 2001 "Virginia Listing of"). Finally, the population of Fairfax County more than doubled between 1970 and 2003 (Fairfax County 2002), and with the population increase came greater development in the county. All of these factors combine to create increasing demand for effective disaster management in a growing urban area.
(24) As described earlier in this study, the Fairfax County Emergency Operations Center has strong communication system capabilities, and the staff makes concerted efforts to regularly work with county agencies to train and exercise for real emergencies. The main shortcoming of the current facility are inadequate space to seat all staff members, with some staff forced to find their own space during a full activation. In addition, the building that houses the Center is not hardened against natural and manmade hazards, and evolving threats require increased security.
(25) The Fairfax County Emergency Management Office is aware of facility shortfalls and capacity issues in meeting the needs of the rapidly growing population of the county. Work is in progress on the construction of a new, multimillion dollar Emergency Operations Center (Jaskulski 2003). The new facility will provide increased physical space, upgrade communications to state-of-the-art systems, feature hardening against natural and manmade disasters, and have more sophisticated security measures.
WORKS CITED:
Anderson, Scott D. “Hazard and Vulnerability Analysis for Washington, D.C.” unpublished paper. Richmond, Virginia, United States of America; University of Richmond; 26 April 2003.
Fairfax County (Virginia). “Fairfax County: Economic and Demographic Information.” location http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/comm/demogrph/gendemo.htm; Fairfax County, Virginia, United States of America; 26 November 2002.
Fairfax County (Virginia). Emergency Management Office. "During an Emergency." location http://http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/ps/es/emergency.htm; Fairfax County, Virginia, United States of America; 30 May 2001.
Fairfax County (Virginia). Emergency Management Office. “Emergency Management Weather Information Network (EMWIN).” location http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/ps/es/technology.htm; Fairfax County, Virginia, United States of America; 20 March 2003.
Fairfax County (Virginia). Emergency Management Office. “Geographic Information Systems (GIS).” Last updated: March 20, 2003. location http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/ps/es/technology.htm; Fairfax County, Virginia, United States of America; 7 June 2003.
Fairfax County (Virginia). Emergency Management Office. “Who We Are and What We Do.” location http://www.co.fairfax.va.us/ps/es/es.htm; Fairfax County, Virginia, United States of America; 20 March 2003.
Jaskulski, Gerald, Fairfax County Emergency Management Office. Interview by the author. Fairfax County, Virginia, United States of America; 10 June 2003.
Watson, Barbara M., Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Weather Service Forecast Office Baltimore/Washington. “Virginia Listings of Tornadoes by County.” location http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/lwx/Historic_Events/VAcnty-tornado-events.htm; Sterling, Virginia, United States of America; 7 January 2001.
Watson, Barbara M., Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Weather Service Forecast Office Baltimore/Washington.“Virginia Thunderstorms and Lightning,” location http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/lwx/lightning/va-lightning.htm; Sterling, Virginia, United States of America; 2 April 2001.