Preparedness takes precedence as a Troop Support working group implements shelter-in-place planning
Representatives from Clothing and Textiles, Construction and Equipment and Finance met on September 22 to review the latest draft plan. With more than 700 employees throughout the building, the plan identities standard operating procedure for shelter-in-place, active threat, and medical emergency responses.
Norvel Brown Sr., a logistics system analyst on Clothing and Textiles’ Executive Agent team, led the meeting and each attending member provided input to finalize details including medical response and equipment needs, and respective protocols for shelter-in-place, evacuation, assembly and accountability.
C&T Customer Operations Director Angela Gonzalez identified a gap in shelter-in-place procedures and initiated C&T’s EA team to look at it, Brown said.
“With that, C&T’s EA team invited in J8 and C&E and we asked for representatives, and that’s how the group formed, this working group, to develop a shelter-in-place and evacuation plan,” Brown said.
Working with DLA Installation Management Philadelphia and utilizing DLA’s Emergency Management Program instruction as the primary governing policy, the group will present the final draft plan to their respective senior leaders and workforce by November.
DLA Emergency Management Specialist Spencer Stewart said he hopes more buildings take this proactive approach to preparedness.
“As emergency managers our number one challenge is to get people to be proactive in their preparedness,” Stewart said. “Things like building a family emergency plan, emergency home kits and personalized emergency plans for your unique workspaces.
“I hope more buildings establish working groups and examine their needs and circumstances with the guidance of the base-wide Emergency Action Plan available to all employees from their SharePoint or supervisor,” Stewart continued.
The group meets bi-weekly and plans to do so until the work is completed, including updating emergency signage, like adhering “SIP Tips,” or a code of conduct, in Safe Haven Rooms, Brown said.
“We’ll go to once a month for maintenance and upkeep of the working group, just to ensure all the safety apparatuses and all of the safety issues are addressed for Building 3,” Brown said.
“And as things come up, we can address additional (issues),” added Kelly Thompson, tailor vendor logistics specialist on C&E’s heavy equipment team.
The team is also planning bi-annual shelter-in-place drills, allowing employees five to seven minutes of concealment preparation time, and to last up to one hour.
“This is going to be new for the workforce, they’re used to fire drills,” Brown said.
After action and evaluation reporting will follow to provide the working group and leaders with analysis, operational strengths and an improvement plan.
Most of the working group has emergency planning experiences, including active and retired military members with safety planning experience from their time in service, for example as “safety representatives,” Brown said.
“I was in AmeriCorps and I did the rapid response program with the American Red Cross which included shelter management and disaster relief response,” said Daryle Brown, warfighter support representative on C&T’s resolution team. “And I was a safety warden when I worked for a contractor for the Virginia Department of Health.”
Thompson also does event planning, and safety is a part of it, she said.
Additional working group members include:
Army Sgt. 1st Class Alexander G. Lagrange, customer account specialist, C&T Executive Agent team
Army Sgt. 1st Class Marcus Kamau Ransome, customer account specialist, C&T Executive Agent team
Kyle McCarthy, division chief, C&E Customer Operations
Gregory Stephens, tailored vendor logistics specialist, C&E Class IV Barrier Program team
Kristen Filomeno, business analyst, Finance
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
