ENP Study GroupDisaster PlanningSession #6

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: THE FLORIDA NENA EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)• Document containing the description of

potential services interruption and the appropriate response to restore those services in the event of equipment or system failure, as well as any disaster event to a PSAP.

Four Phases of Emergency Management as defined by FEMA

Mitigation – These are activities designed to limit the impact of future disasters. Service providers that provides services to the facilities, network, and equipment for 9-1-1 PSAPs.

Preparedness – Activities geared toward planning, organizing, evaluating, and preparing for the emergency.

Response – Activities which provide response to the actual emergency such as rescue, service restoration, etc.

Recovery - Activities designed to restore service to its original level or better. Recovery and mitigation activities may overlap.

Types of Disasters• Man-made – Arson, strikes, sabotage,

vandalism, telephone cable cut, or liquid spill.• Environmental – Aircraft crash, hazardous

material spill, loss of power, or water damage.• Technological – Circuit overload, system crashes,

or network interruptions.• Natural – Severe weather, flood, hurricane,

earthquake, tornado, or fire.

Categories of Service Interruption1. Loss of Service to a PSAP (Full or Partial)

2. Loss of a PSAP Facility

3. Isolation of a Central Office

4. Isolation of an End Office (Telephone central office

which provides dial tone to the subscriber calling 911)

5. Loss of a Central Office

6. Loss of the Tandem Switch or Selective Router

7. Loss of the Data Base Management System (DBMS)

8. Loss of an ALI Node

Category of Service Interruption1. Loss of Service to a PSAP

Description• This is a break in the communication network due to a failure

in the equipment or the cutting of a cable. This can be full or partial loss of service.

Category of Service InterruptionLoss of Service to a PSAP

Preparedness

• Prepare Intergovernmental Agreement with an alternate PSAP.

• Determine an alternate site where calls will be rerouted.

• Prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

Response

• Relocate personnel and equipment according to PSAP’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

• Reroute 911 calls back to the original PSAP.

• Notify alternate site that service has been restored.

Category of Service Interruption2. Loss of a PSAP FacilityDescription

• This occurs when the PSAP is unable to function due to structural damage to the building, action of a threat, or air quality incident for which the personnel has to be evacuated.

Category of Service InterruptionLoss of a PSAP FacilityPreparedness• Prepare Intergovernmental Agreement with an alternate PSAP.• Prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).• Determine an alternate site where calls will be rerouted.Response• Notify the telephone service provider.• Re-route calls using the “make-busy” switch or contact the telephone service provider and

order the re-routing of all 911 calls to the alternate site.• Contact the alternate site and advise personnel that 911 calls are being rerouted to their

site.• Relocate personnel and equipment as needed.• Notify the telephone service provider and alternate site when service has been restored.

Category of Service Interruption3. Isolation of a Central OfficeDescription

• This occurs when the links between the

central office serving a PSAP and the

remainder of the 911 communications

network are interrupted. Calls will not

route through the Tandem switch or

Selective Router as a result there will

be no ANI or ALI.

Category of Service InterruptionIsolation of a Central OfficePreparedness

• Prepare an Intergovernmental Agreement with an alternate PSAP.

• Prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

• Determine a seven-digit number to which calls will be routed, preferably a telephone number associated with a 24-hour phone coverage such as a police station or fire station.

Response

• It is important that the telephone service provider has the latest contact information for the PSAP.

• Calls will be rerouted to a 7-digit number according to the 911 Emergency Operations Plan.

• Relocate personnel and equipment according to the SOP.

• The telephone service provider will notify the PSAP once service has been restored.

Category of Service Interruption4. Isolation of an End OfficeDescription

• This occurs when an end office that feeds the 9-1-1 system has its communications links to the Tandem Switch or Selective Router broken. These calls will not have ANI or ALI.

• Landlines phones within the service area will continue to have access to other phones served by the same end office.

Category of Service InterruptionIsolation of an End OfficePreparedness

• Prepare an Intergovernmental Agreement with an alternate PSAP.

• Prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).

Response

• 911 calls will be routed to a 7 digit number at another facility within that service area like a fire station, police department, etc.

• Dispatch the appropriate personnel to the new location with call answering equipment and dispatching SOPs. No ANI or ALI will be received. Information will need to be relayed back to the main PSAP or the officers in the field via cell phone.

• Notify Telephone Company of isolation.

• Notify Emergency Service Providers in affected area.

• Telephone service provider will notify the affected agencies once the service has been restored.

Category of Service Interruption5. Loss of a Central OfficeDescription

• This occurs when the communication equipment located within the central office fails as a result of malfunction or damage and is unable to process calls.

• There will be a loss of all telephone service, for the area that it is served by the central office, with the exception of cellular.

Category of Service InterruptionLoss of a Central OfficePreparedness

• Provide cellular phones to call-takers and notify citizen of 7-digit numbers to call for emergency assistance requests.

• Notify the public via News Media, Emergency Notification systems, county website, Twitter, Facebook, and any others means of public communication.

Response

• Telephone service providers will notify Public Safety agency.

• Implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

• Relocate personnel and/or equipment to other jurisdiction not affected by the loss of the central office.

• Telephone service providers will notify the Public Safety agency when service is restored.

Category of Service Interruption6. Loss of the Tandem SwitchDescription

• The loss of a 911 Tandem Switch will result in the loss of selected and alternate routing, ANI, ALI, and call transfer features.

• Failure of a 911 Tandem Switch could result in using the default routing based on trunk groups. This can cause some of the calls to be routed to the wrong PSAP.

Category of Service InterruptionLoss of the Tandem SwitchPreparedness

• Designate a default routing based on trunk group or end office location.

• Consider dual tandems as a means of redundancy to limit or eliminate vulnerability in this area.

• Create a SOP for call handling and dispatching in the event of a tandem failure.

Response

• Telephone service providers will notify Public Safety agency.

• Implement appropriate SOPs as needed.

• 911 calls will be rerouted based on default routing tables.

• Telephone service providers will notify the Public Safety agency when service is restored.

Category of Service Interruption7. Loss of the Data Base Management System (DBMS)Description

• This is the failure of any of the computers containing the data that serves the PSAP, damage to the facility housing the data, or a brake on the links between the data system and the ALI nodes.

• The loss of DBMS will result in the loss of up-to-date ALI (address) information to call-takers.

Category of Service InterruptionLoss of the Data Base Management System (DBMS)Preparedness• Create a SOP for call handling and dispatching situations. The SOP should reinforce the need to

verify the caller’s location. • Verify telephone service provider procedures and contact information for manual ALI retrieval.• Possibly establish a local back up database or print out the database from an annual audit.Response• Telephone service providers will notify the PSAP of any data management failures. • Call the telephone service provider for address information retrieval. Provide your name, title,

agency, and call-back number, as well as the ANI of the caller for ALI information. • Implement the SOP for ALI look-up. This service is restricted for 911 calls only. Verify the local

legal uses of the ALI data for your area.• Telephone service providers will notify the Public Safety agency when service is restored.

Category of Service Interruption8. Loss of an ALI NodeDescription

• This may result in improperly routed calls as well as no ALI information.

• Some 911 networks have been designed with dual ALI nodes in which case there will be no degradation of service.

• Some 911 systems rely on local, standalone ALI databases. Loss of a standalone database will result in the loss of ALI information.

Category of Service InterruptionLoss of an ALI NodePreparedness

• Create SOP for call handling and dispatching. Ensure to verify the caller’s location.

• Verify telephone service provider procedures and contact numbers for manual ALI retrieval.

• User redundant geographically diverse ALI nodes and circuits.

Response

• The telephone service provider will notify the PSAPs.

• Contact the telephone service provider for address information retrieval.

Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce (TERT)• This is a taskforce that was developed to provide assistance to

PSAP personnel when they are overloaded during a major incident.

• NENA began developing procedures and in the spring of 2006 a joint NENA/APCO committee was formed. Information on this resource and project can be fond at: http://www.njti-tert.org

Reading MaterialThe following are documents and websites you can use as a source of information.

http://www.nena.org/?page=PSAPDisasterPlans

http://www.fema.gov

http://www.nena.org/?page=PSAP_Operations

National Incident Management System (NIMS)

ICS-100 - Introduction to the Incident Command System

ICS-200 - ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents

NENA Standard document 53-501 - Contingency Planning Hazard and Vulnerability Analyses Operations Information.

Questions

Amelia L. Coates, ENPSarasota Countyalcoates@scgov.netOffice: 941-861-5931