Agenda

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PR.2

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	William Walker, M.D., Health Services Director
Date:	December 13, 2016

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

2016 Urban Shield Presentation

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 12/13/2016

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:	Randy Sawyer, 925-335-3210
cc:	Randy Sawyer Marcy Wilhelm Tasha Scott

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: December 13, 2016
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

Presentation recognizing the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District for placing first in the Maritime section, and the Hazardous Materials Incident Response Team for placing second in the Hazardous Material Response section at the 2016 Urban Shield Exercise.

FISCAL IMPACT:

None.

BACKGROUND:

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District participated in the Maritime/Fire/Rescue section of Urban Shield 2016. Maritime/Fire/Rescue teams were presented with realistic, mentally and physically challenging training scenarios that required them to demonstrate their ability to operate in an “all risk” environment. Examples of “all-risk” include searching for persons reported overboard, in-water rescues, and responding to reports of an oil spill followed by the provision of EMS for sick and/or injured survivors. Boat handling, navigation, use of navigation aid, marlinspike seamanship and familiarity with maritime rescue tools and equipment were also evaluated.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

The Health Services Hazardous Materials Response Team participated in the Hazardous Materials Response section of Urban Shield 2016. Hazardous materials response teams were required to demonstrate their abilities in a series of realistic, mentally and physically challenging, state-of-the-art training scenarios to respond to the uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances during transportation or at fixed facilities as well as incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. Six different areas of response were evaluated as follows:

• Biological – Response to an unknown biological weapon lab to determine with testing it was a botulism Lab.
• Chemical – Determine what agent a victim was exposed to based on signs and symptoms and testing, determine he was an innocent victim of a mustard agent exposure
• Radiological - Response to a home that was issued a search warrant due to possession of a stolen soil density gauge. House had radiological sources and an explosives lab, and a suspected radiological dispersion device
• Rail/chemical – Response to a railcar of hydrogen fluoride that was tampered with and releasing hydrogen fluoride and the assignment was to stop the leak
• Chemical Attack – Response to a nerve agent on a bus and the assignment was to find and inactivate dispersal device and rescue an unconscious victim from the bus
• Rail/Chemical – Develop and implement a plume model assignment to assess worst case scenario from the hydrogen fluoride railcar release and identifying the population of the potentially affected area

Each team was given two (2) hours to solve each scenario. Each Marine and HazMat Response Team was graded on their ability to assess the threat, determine an action plan to mitigate the situation, and exercising that plan. This annual competition challenges and prepares local Marine and HazMat response teams for an actual marine and a chemical/biological/nuclear incident in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Contra Costa County Fire District Marine members included: Battalion Chief Jim Huntze, Captain Whit MacDonald, Captain Chuck Stark, Firefighter Wes Balthazar, and Firefighter Brandon Burruss.

The Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Incident Response Team has won this event twice and came in second and third in the same year another time. The team participating this year included: Maria Duazo (Hazardous Materials Response Team Lead), Daniel Vazquez, Trisha Asuncion, Hung Pham, David LeCount, Ellen Dempsey, and Seth Heller.

Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and the Health Services Hazardous Materials Programs are working closely together in responding to hazardous materials incidents. This includes how they will be dispatched to incidents, establishment of incident command at the incident, and developing protocols on responding to incidents within the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District’s jurisdictional borders to hazardous materials incidents.