PS COMMITTEE #1 November 3, 217 UPDATE MEMORANDUM November 28, 217 TO: Public Safety Committee FROM: JV-Keith Levchenko, Senior Legislative Analyst SUBJECT: Update: Alert Montgomery and Other Public Notifications The following officials and staff are expected to attend this meeting: Dr. Earl Stoddard, Director, Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS) Chuck Crisostomo, Operations Chief, OEMHS Matthias Miziorko, Emergency Management Specialist, OEMHS Attachment Slide Presentation ( 1-1) Public Safety Committee Chair Elrich asked the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS) to provide an update to the Public Safety Committee on the County's Alert Montgomery system and other public notification tools used to inform the public of emergency events and other timely issues (such as traffic delays, weather alerts, County facility closures, etc.). Last December, the County experienced a fire in the storage pit at the Montgomery County Resource Recovery Facility (RRF) in Dickerson, Maryland. While the fire was contained within the tipping building, it took ten days to be controlled and resulted in numerous issues of concern for the surrounding area, most notably air quality issues from the steam and smoke caused by the fire and fire suppression efforts. OEMHS, in partnership with Fire and Rescue and Department of Environmental Protection staff, utilized Alert Montgomery and Reverse 911 in addition to other public notifications and community meetings. More recently, a number of major wildfires in California have also put a spotlight on the efficacy of different types of public notifications in life-threatening situations.
For this briefing, OEMHS plans to cover several topics, including: Alert Montgomery - How it works, triggers/thresholds, hours of operation, metrics, etc. "Reverse 911 ", which is an emergency landline notification done through the same system as Alert Montgomery. Emergency Alert System (EAS) - The federal system that allows jurisdictions to put flash messaging on the radio and television. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)-This is a joint Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program to which Montgomery County gained access in October 216; WEA got some use during the recent wildfires in California. The future of emergency alerting - OEMHS is looking at some enhancements over the coming year. OEMHS staff will also provide a live web-based demonstration of the back end of the Alert Montgomery system, to show how different elements are coordinated. Attachment F:\Levchenko\Emergency Management\Council Packets and Presentations\OEMHS Public Notification Briefing 11317.docx -2-
MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT & HOMELAND SECURITY PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 3, 217 G
What is Alert Montgomery? Launched in 24 and transitioned to new vender, Everbridge, in 214 National Capital Region contract administered by Fairfax County and funded through the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), a US Department of Homeland Security grant. A process, not a software program Alert Senders Opt-Ins Policy There is both an internal and external side to the system that' have different recipients and use cases.
What is Alert Montgomery? Public Safety Internal Alerts Alert Gaithersburg NCR Metro Tech Private Schools Alert Rockville NCRComms lnterop MOCEP Alert Takoma Park BOE Judges ;,-::;:.,:,:::,.. '~,~.,-,,-.... :- Each organization has its own administrators, senders and policies governing use. In some situations, a cross organizational notification can be conducted. Within most organizations, there are different groups that are flagged at the account level to receive certain notifications.
Special Groups Private School Alert System Initiated in 216 217 Maryland Emergency Management Association Project of the Year 217 Everbridge Impact Award Montgomery County Healthcare Collaborative for Emergency Preparedness (MOCEP) - Hospital Coalition NCR Metro Tech (Bomb Squads) Board of Elections Election Judges MCPS Bus Drivers HHS Emergency Shelter Teams (coming soon)
Alert Montgomery Operational Basics Individuals are trained by OEM HS on operating one or more organizations or groups. All access is role-based; users only see the data relevant to the alerts they send. Organization administrators work with partners to develop triggers on sending alerts. Every organization provides the capability to send messages via voice, text, e mail or push notification to the Everbridge app. Alert recipients come from opt-ins (public sign-ups), Verizon E911 data (White & Yellow Pages) and manual uploaded lists (i.e., County employees).,,,::.,jt...,, '.~.;,..:.
217 Q3 Mass Notification Summary SUMMARY + Primary POC/Admin: Chuck Crisostomo (OEMHS Ops Chief) 12,2 BROADCASTS ii Public 1 Internal + Residents (214 Census): 1,3,447 + Size/square miles (land only): 491 + Everbridge Users: 28 12,1 11,9 11,8 E#Wln11WWW,~it:. ~ + Everbridge Organizations: 5 + 35,789 broadcasts sent to 13,83,316 (sum total) recipients reached with 31,328,284 (sum total) messages 11,7 11,6 11,5 [~) July,:1 ;.; 1 August IC lt~ffa..'. i:,., September i/ I CONTACTS RECIPIENTS 9,, Public 8,, Internal 7,, 6,, 5,, 4,, 3,, 2,, 1,,
Public Alert Subscribers Opt-Ins 2, 18, 87 16, 14, 143,32..-- 145,516 12, 1, 8, 6, 4, 2, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ c.,q,~ v ~o ()q; -,'Ii<:- '-<~ ~'Ii "?-~ ~'Ii '> "'<:- -,v "?-v c.,q,~ v ~o,:f -,'Ii<:- '-<~ ~'Ii "?-~ ~'Ii '> "'<:- -,v "?-v c.,fl,~ v
Emergency Alert System (EAS) Federal program that engages radio and T.V. control centers to distribute emergency information across a defined geographic area. Depending on the type of alert, control rooms have the right to delay or deny distribution. Montgomery County is an approved EAS user. NATIONAL ALERT is tr 1 ct of Co luir,b i a OC E f Primary Entry Point S~ste:1 Issued an Err.ergenc~ Action Not if i cat ion
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) Joint DHS/FCC program that required all wireless providers to provide emergency alerts. All wireless devises, including cellphones, required to be compliant starting in 212. Requires no opt-in or sign up. Based on the cell tower the devise is connected to, not the home address of the recipient. Limited to events that pose a significant threat to life or property. Preparing for NCR wide test in Spring 218.
Demo of Software Application