Local Emergency Management Coalition goes the extra mile to provide extra support to December King County Flood Response

Photo Courtesy King County Emergency Management 1994 Annual Report[ 

The Northshore Emergency Management Coalition (NEMCo) and its Emergency Manager, Kevin Lowery, have spent the past several years training and growing their Volunteer Corps to serve their partners, the Cities of Lake Forest Park and Kenmore and the Shoreline Fire Department. 

However, when the December weather event passed through without a significant impact on their communities, The Volunteer Corps jumped into action to assist the King County Office of Emergency Management during the activation of their Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Renton for their response to the historic high water levels and prolonged flooding.

In a coordination call for King County Emergency Managers, which included Lowery, the county EOC expressed a need for volunteer call takers to answer and route incoming calls overnight. This important role is responsible for routing the calls to the proper EOC component (command staff, logistics, resource management, operations, joint information center, or planning) and to pass quality information to or from callers.

Over the course of the event, The NEMCo Volunteer Corp provided seven volunteers to cover several 12-hour shifts, including shifts on Christmas Eve. Two of these volunteers were selected in part because they were National Incident Management System (NIMS) trained and certificated volunteers. 

Katrina Rose, a NIMS certified volunteer, FCC licensed radio operator, and NEMCO Operations Section Chief, and Alan Coburn, a NIMS certified volunteer, FCC licensed radio operator, and Shoreline Auxiliary Communications Services President, were some of the first volunteers to answer the county’s request.

The NIMS training and certification is critical training for these volunteers because it confirms that the volunteer understands the NIMS organization, processes, authorities, and priorities in the EOC and can contribute immediately and positively to the efficient and effective EOC operation.

As call takers, Katrina and Alan answered and documented all incoming call conversations, actions taken, and referrals to EOC components best equipped to answer the needs of the caller. 

Additionally, they were responsible for controlling access to the secured facility and, when both paid professionals and volunteers signed out after their shift, monitoring the status of EOC personnel to ensure they arrived at their destination safely. This safety protocol is a critical consideration since personnel, depending on the incident, might be travelling through flood, high wind, snow, ice, or earthquake impacted areas after shift.

Being favorably impressed by the EOC’s smooth operations, shift transition briefings (held every 12 hours), and staff professionalism, Katrina and Alan found the EOC to be a warm, professional, helpful, and collegial environment that allowed many key decision makers to be coordinating the response from the same room. 

Consequently, EOC staff could literally walk across the room or turn and talk to the appropriate person at one of the 128+ workstations to resolve a problem, get additional information, or find additional help.

All levels of government were in the EOC coordinating and synchronizing the integrated government response. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington National Guard, Flood Warning Center, King County sheriff’s office, and King County roads were among the local, state, and federal governments in the EOC to coordinate delivery of services across King County.

Katrina commented that “the energy in the EOC and the intensity of the operations flowed and ebbed in response to events in the field. When a levee failure raised the alarm, people in harm’s way were immediately warned to evacuate affected areas and Operations moved assets needed for levee repair into place. A satisfied, vigilant calm then returned when the crisis was successfully managed.”

Alan noted from his experience, 

“It was a smooth running, very professional machine, humming 24/7 and delivering great service to King County citizens. It operated just like we expected based on our National Incident Management System training. The shift-change briefings every 12 hours were just what you would hope for; clear, concise, and complete to assure seamless handoff of incident context, actions, and information to assure continuity of the very effective response.”

Even when a tree went down in Lake Forest Park during this disaster and the volunteers were once again called to help, this time by a partner agency, the NEMCo Volunteer Corps was able to continue to serve both locally and at the King County EOC. This demonstrates the spirit of cooperation that makes the Emergency Management system work but also illustrates how preparing locally can have a positive impact countywide.