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Pages 93-126

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From page 93...
... 93 Plans should be routinely tested through training, drills, and exercises. This section covers training, drills, and exercises not only for the state DOT's emergency plans but also for the agency's broader emergency management program.
From page 94...
... 94 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies keep up with these challenges, state DOTs need to act strategically and create an emergency training and exercise program that is not only aligned with federal and state guidance but can also integrates changes and improvements and takes advantage of available resources and partnerships. For example, FEMA and the state EMA have a wealth of knowledge and preparedness resources on exercise planning and design, conduct, and evaluation, and there are emergency training and exercise opportunities offered at nominal or no cost to state agencies.
From page 95...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 95 DHS/FEMA grants help DOTs participate in preparedness activities, including training and exercises. They normally require implementation of NIMS and may also have training, exercise, evaluation, and reporting requirements.
From page 96...
... 96 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies Continuity of Operations COOPs are activated when an emergency impedes the state transportation agency's ability to carry out its essential functions. The emergency may be due to a natural disaster or manmade event resulting in the destruction of key facilities or a pandemic incapacitating a significant proportion of key personnel.
From page 97...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 97 NIMS and ICS NIMS is the essential foundation of the National Preparedness System and provides the template for the management of incidents and operations in support of all five National Planning Frameworks. The 2011 NIMS Training Program document emphasizes the importance of training and states that training of emergency personnel "is critical to the success of NIMS implementation nationally" (FEMA 2011, p.
From page 98...
... 98 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies supervisors, senior-level response managers and executives, elected and appointed officials, and support staff. In addition, NIMS and ICS should be used in all training and exercises, including use of ICS in exercise planning team structures; ICS should be used in emergency response, including response to traffic incidents.
From page 99...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 99 • EMPG Program-funded personnel are required to participate in no fewer than three exercises in a 12-month period. For allowable costs and other information, see DHS Notice of Funding Opportunity Fiscal Year 2016 Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG)
From page 100...
... 100 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies As stated in NCHRP Synthesis 472, a "high level of preparedness leads to better outcomes (with respect to the FEMA and FHWA reimbursement programs) for state DOTs." Training practices that were helpful to DOTs in obtaining successful reimbursements included providing training on the FHWA Emergency Relief and FEMA Public Assistance programs to personnel responsible for documentation and reimbursement, training in conducting assessments, using scenarios from prior disasters, providing training to local public agencies on both programs, providing training to state EMA personnel on the FHWA Emergency Relief program, and training state DOT personnel for integration into the state EMA as FEMA project officers and project coordinators.
From page 101...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 101 • Part 7 -- Traffic Control for School Areas • Part 8 -- Traffic Control for Railroad and Light Rail Transit Grade Crossings • Part 9 -- Traffic Control for Bicycle Facilities Traffic incidents are classified into the following three classes of duration for the purpose of determining traffic control needs. These classes are as follows: • Major -- expected duration > 2 h • Intermediate -- expected duration 30 min to 2 h • Minor -- expected duration < 30 min In addition to the FHWA's MUTCD web page, MUTCD Training and Resources are also available from a number of organizations: • LTAP Offices • American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA)
From page 102...
... 102 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies programs and exercises. According to the FHWA, two training-related strategic actions that should be taken by TMCs focus on training and discussion-based exercises to train personnel on plans and procedures, and the certification of required personnel and equipment to ensure their preparedness.
From page 103...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 103 Disclaimer: Complex federal environmental, safety, and health regulations, including OSHA regulations, need to be followed by state transportation agencies. For specific guidance, consult your compliance unit.
From page 104...
... 104 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies Drills are a common form of exercise for state DOT field personnel and are used to provide training on specialized equipment or a specific function or procedure. TDOT's Comprehensive Exercise Program (CEP)
From page 105...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 105 Close coordination with the state EMA ensures that DOT exercise and training activities support state priorities as well as DOT priorities. Regional or district offices should coordinate with regional EMA offices, which can offer various types of assistance with exercise planning and implementation.
From page 106...
... 106 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies of response and evacuation plans. Discussion-based exercises can also help in the creation of training.
From page 107...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 107 Drills A coordinated, supervised activity to do the following: -- validate a specific operation or function in a single agency or organization; and -- train on new equipment; develop or validate new policies or procedures; or practice and maintain current skills. Functional Exercises (FEs)
From page 108...
... 108 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies Helpful Tips for Exercise Programs The following is based on the TDOT case study: • Establish relationships with members of state, local, and federal government emergency management communities, volunteer agencies, and private industry. • Build on existing relationships through regional personnel with key stakeholders.
From page 109...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 109 both physical and cyber threats and vulnerabilities, and evaluate the transition from steady state to incident response and recovery efforts" (2013 NIPP, p.
From page 110...
... 110 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies Wash; and AAR, IP, or Corrective Action Plan development. The exercise planning team also creates other needed documentation and coordinates logistics, including safety of participants.
From page 111...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 111 The 2014 MTI Exercise Handbook presents a list of example objectives based on Wisconsin Emergency Management 2004 (Table 13, p.
From page 112...
... 112 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies Guide, and TCRP Web-Only Document 60/NCHRP Web-Only Document 200: CommandLevel Decision Making for Transit Emergency Managers (available at http://onlinepubs.trb.org/ onlinepubs/tcrp/tcrp_w60.pdf) , which describes scenarios addressed in TCRP Project A-36, "Command Level Decision Making for Transit Emergency Managers": flood, hurricane, earthquake, power outage, HAZMAT, and active shooter.
From page 113...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 113 Exercise Documentation Exercise documentation is extremely important. Identification of strengths and areas of improvement cannot be accomplished without accurate and thorough documentation.
From page 114...
... 114 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies to collect participant feedback and develop debriefing notes. The controller and evaluator debriefing provides an opportunity for controllers and evaluators to share their observations and key insights concerning strengths and areas for improvement.
From page 115...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 115 • What specific changes to plans and procedures, personnel, organizational structures, leadership or management processes, facilities, or equipment can improve operational performance? " Step 2 -- Observing the Exercise Conduct and Collecting Data For discussion-based exercises, the evaluator or note-taker will record data from participant discussions.
From page 116...
... 116 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies The AAR contains evaluation information, an overview of the performance with a focus on exercise objectives, and the analysis of core capabilities. According to CPG 101, Version 2.0, the AAR should address the following: • Describe the reasons and need to conduct an AAR (e.g., review actions taken, identify equipment shortcomings, improve operational readiness, highlight strengths and initiatives)
From page 117...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 117 (continued on next page) Table 15.
From page 118...
... 118 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies Advantages -- Cost-effective way to leverage limited resources. -- Alleviates having to hire additional training staff or consultants.
From page 119...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 119 In addition to these methods, blended training allows agencies to combine multiple methods, and choose desired aspects of each method. Cross-training personnel can provide contingencies for situations that result in significant absenteeism.
From page 120...
... 120 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies • FEMA Emergency Management Institute (EMI) • FEMA Independent Study Program • FHWA National Highway Institute • FTA National Transit Institute • FEMA National Training and Education Division • State EMA • State and local police and fire departments • FHWA National Highway Institute (NHI)
From page 121...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 121 Supervisor • ICS for Expanding Incidents IS-200 • National Response Framework IS-800 Superintendent • Intermediate Incident Command IS-300 • Advanced Incident Command IS-400 Landscape and Natural Resources Personnel Highway Operations Worker • Basic Incident Command System IS-100 • National Incident Management System IS-700 • Hazard Communication • OSHA/DOT HAZMAT • Traffic Incident Management Tech 1 • Traffic Incident Management • Control of Hazardous Energy • Introduction to Wildland Firefighting Supervisor • ICS for Expanding Incidents IS-200 • National Response Framework IS-800 Superintendent • Intermediate Incident Command IS-300 • Advanced Incident Command IS-400 In addition to this training, ADOT's Highway Operations Worker undergoes almost 40 additional training courses ranging from fire safety to flagger ATSSA certification to computer security awareness. Tech 1 takes about 10 additional courses, including advanced work zone traffic control and maintenance communications.
From page 122...
... 122 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies • Search and Navigation Courses – TEMA Search Operations – GPS Land Navigation Course – Basic Visual Tracking – Managing Search Operations • National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC) -- DHS-funded courses • FEMA National Emergency Training Center (TDOT Case Study.)
From page 123...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 123 • Blue Cascades Exercises. Pacific Northwest Economic Region and the Center for Regional Disaster Resilience bring together public and private partners from the United States and Canada in the Pacific Northwest for a series of scenario-based TTXs (Caltrans is one of the state DOT participants)
From page 124...
... 124 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies Classroom Training • Arizona. ADEM and Texas A&M provide emergency management classroom training to ADOT field personnel (NCHRP Synthesis 468)
From page 125...
... Emergency Management Training and Exercises 125 Functional Exercises • Iowa. Iowa DOT holds three to four regional TTXs annually (NCHRP Synthesis 468)
From page 126...
... 126 A Guide to Emergency Management at State Transportation Agencies • Level 4: Results. Demonstrates whether the training is having the desired outcome (e.g., faster response to an incident)

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