DERT INFORMER “We shape our build- ings; thereafter they shape us” Winston Churchill In This Issue • Public Private Partnership Symposium • Extreme Heat • Pre-Incident Plans • Outdoor Warning Sirens • Training Links—Weather Links—Helpful Hints—Other Resources • 2017 Dallas Emergency Pre- paredness Extravaganza High Rise Safety On June 14, 2017, a London residential tower caught fire killing at least six and injuring dozens more. The fire raged for more than 12 hours, leading some to drop children from high windows and prompting others to pound on windows in hope of rescue. This tragic event reminds us all how important it is to have evac- uation and other safety plans in place when it comes to our buildings. Make sure you have your pre-incident plans in place. Have evacuation routes, safe areas, and plans for those with access and functional needs in place. Communicate these with your tenants and residents. Practice these plans regularly so every- one knows what to do and where to go when emergencies strike. Remember: • Take the stairs rather than the elevators • Have ways to get to landings or lower floors for safety • Know who may have access or functional needs and how to help them evacuate • Have first aid and emergency kits and fire extinguishers available and inspected • Test your warning systems so residents know what the alarms mean and they function when needed • Evaluate your plans after a test or emergency to see if any gap needs to be addressed. The DERT website has a tabletop exercise that building and se- curity managers can use to help develop scenarios and plans to evacuate buildings in the case of emergency on its training and exercise page— http://dallascityhall.com/departments/ officeemergencymanagement/Pages/training-and- Education.aspx—this is a free resource available to all DERT members. By knowing what to do ahead of time, we can be ready when a disaster strikes. Downtown Dallas, Inc. July 2017
Transcript
DERT INFORMER
“We shape our build-
ings; thereafter they
shape us”
Winston Churchill
In This Issue
• Public Private Partnership
Symposium
• Extreme Heat
• Pre-Incident Plans
• Outdoor Warning Sirens
• Training Links—Weather
Links—Helpful Hints—Other
Resources
• 2017 Dallas Emergency Pre-
paredness Extravaganza
High Rise Safety On June 14, 2017, a London residential tower caught fire killing at least six and injuring dozens more. The fire raged for more than 12 hours, leading some to drop children from high windows and prompting others to pound on windows in hope of rescue. This tragic event reminds us all how important it is to have evac-uation and other safety plans in place when it comes to our buildings. Make sure you have your pre-incident plans in place. Have evacuation routes, safe areas, and plans for those with access and functional needs in place. Communicate these with your tenants and residents. Practice these plans regularly so every-one knows what to do and where to go when emergencies strike. Remember: • Take the stairs rather than the elevators • Have ways to get to landings or lower floors for safety • Know who may have access or functional needs and how to
help them evacuate • Have first aid and emergency kits and fire extinguishers
available and inspected • Test your warning systems so residents know what the
alarms mean and they function when needed • Evaluate your plans after a test or emergency to see if any
gap needs to be addressed. The DERT website has a tabletop exercise that building and se-curity managers can use to help develop scenarios and plans to evacuate buildings in the case of emergency on its training and exercise page— http://dallascityhall.com/departments/officeemergencymanagement/Pages/training-and-Education.aspx—this is a free resource available to all DERT members. By knowing what to do ahead of time, we can be ready when a disaster strikes.
Downtown Dallas, Inc. July 2017
Thanks to everyone 2nd Annual Public-Private Partnership Symposium this year on Thursday, April 13, 2017. The symposium was a half-day event bringing partners from the private sector together with Federal, state, and local agencies to discuss important public safety topics.
This year’s symposium featured Griffin Logistics Tramedic Kits as our title sponsor. Tramedic provides trauma-specific medical kits and training to teach people how to help those in need before emergency responders can arrive. Tramedic tied into our keynote speaker, Dr. Alex Eastman, who is an instrumental part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Stop the Bleed campaign. Stop the Bleed is a program that empowers and equips non-medical partners to be the help someone needs until emergency responders can arrive on scene. We even conducted a demonstration of how to use ele-ments of a trauma kit with willing volunteers.
Topics for this year’s symposium ranged from real world life lessons learned from local events. We discussed the July 7th Dallas Police Shoot-ing—from the police, hospitals, and buildings involved. We also had pan-els on homeless initiatives in Downtown Dallas, Cybersecurity, and crisis communications. We continually strive to create panel and discussion topics relevant and important to all our partners whether it’s public safety, quality of life issues, or other topics of concern.
We value the relationships we build with our public and private partners throughout the year. The Symposium gives us the ability and the opportunity to not only provide relevant and timely information but also network and strengthen relationships that help prepare all our partners to work together to build a safer Dallas.
Extreme Heat
Summer in Texas means
HEAT. We are beginning our
hot season and now is the time
to take precautions. Heat-
related illnesses are completely
preventable.
Extreme Heat
Public Private Partnership Symposium
• Know your risk. Heat affects everyone, but especially the young, old, and those with health issues.
• Drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids and seek shade and wear hats and loose clothes.
• Don’t leave kids or pets in closed vehicles.
• Limit outdoor activity and wear sunscreen.
• If you don’t have air condition-ing, make use of public places that do. Stay in the lowest lev-els with the lights off if neces-sary.
Pre-Incident
Planning
Do you have your building’s
pre-incident plan in place?
• Emergency Contact
Information: Firefight-
ers may need to contact
a building representa-
tive at off hours for a
fire, a broken sprinkler
head, or any number of
other situations.
• Knox Box Location (also
known as Lock Boxes
or Key Boxes): Know-
ing if there is a Knox
Box on site and its loca-
tion prevents unneces-
sary property damage.
• Alarm Panel Location
• Utility Shut Off Loca-
tions
• Floor Plans
• Stairwell and Elevator
Information
• Fire Protection Systems
Information, including
the location of the fire
alarm panel, fire pump
and sprinkler system
control valves
Fillable PDFs are available
on the website to help you
create your plan and submit
it to Dallas Fire-Rescue.
This information is vital to
the safety of all downtown
businesses and residents.
http://dallascityhall.com/
departments/
officeemergencymanage-
ment/Pages/training-and-
Education.aspx
Outdoor Warning Sirens
Outdoor Warning Sirens
The Office of Emergency Management is the department responsible for the City’s 155 Outdoor Warning Sirens. On Friday, April 7th starting at 11:48 p.m., we experienced a malicious, system-wide activation of the system. OEM went on alert immediately to keep the system from sounding, though while we addressed that issue, the system sounded for several hours.
During the next days and weeks, OEM worked with the manufacturer and other partners to identify and rectify how the system was compro-mised. We have since put measures in place to secure the system to prevent further incidents with the siren system. It is currently secure and operational should the need arise to sound them.
While we secured our system, we heard from cities around the country concerned about other outdoor siren systems and have shared what information we could to help them contact their vendors and partners to put their own measures in place. This was an unexpected and unique event; awareness to a potential hazard has been identified and corrected.
The Outdoor Warning Sirens are a vital part of the city’s emergency notification system. It’s our first line of defense to alert those who are outdoors to go inside a building immediately and seek further infor-mation. With the events of April 7th, we discovered the system did what it was intended to do. Dallas residents took to email, phones, and social media to seek information. We answered as much as we were able, and now our system is ready for anything.
—Training Links—
http://www.preparingtexas.org
http://www.fema.gov
http://www.nctog.org/ep/training
—Weather Links—
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd/radio.html
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/fwd/skywarn.html
—Other Resources—
http://www.knowhat2do.com
http://www.ready.gov/america/getakit
http://www.dallasalert.org
http://www.dallascert.com
http://www.domesticpreparedness.com
Training Links—Weather Links—Helpful Hints—Other Resources
—Helpful Hints—
Emergency supplies to keep handy:
•Flashlights with extra batteries
•First Aid kit
•Food/water for employees and customers
to use during a period of unexpected
confinement at your business
•Plastic to cover expensive equipment and
furnishings
•Hard hats, gloves and boots
•NOAA weather radio with batteries
•Communication plans.
Subscribe to Downtown Dal-
las, Inc.’s newsletters and e-
blasts to stay up to date on
the latest Downtown news,
events, and openings!
2017 Dallas Emergency Preparedness Extravaganza
SAVE THE DATE!
Preparedness Extravaganza!
September is National Preparedness Month. OEM cele-
brates every year with our Dallas Emergency Preparedness
Extravaganza!
Save Saturday, September 16, 2017, to bring your families,
friends, and colleagues to Klyde Warren Park for food, fun,
and preparedness activities!
This FREE event is open to the public. Organizations are
encouraged to participate. To find out more about the
event and how to get a table, contact Rafael Ferreira at
