Ocean Shores fire and emergency staff plan earthquake tabletop, add hires and water-rescue training including drone use

Assistant Chief Mike Mandela told the Ocean Shores Public Safety Committee on Tuesday that the city plans a tabletop exercise tied to the statewide Great ShakeOut on Oct. 16 and a brief, 30–45 minute tabletop for employees and elected officials to practice response roles.

“I'm gonna schedule a tabletop exercise, which is a no fault stress free environment,” Mandela said, describing plans to design scenarios and “three to four objectives” for police, fire, public works and the public-information officer to discuss resource allocation, communications and documentation.

Mandela said the goal is to help staff and elected officials understand roles during an earthquake and to build a common operating picture for decisions such as whether to move expensive public-works equipment in the event of a tsunami threat. “It's gonna have to rely on situational awareness,” he said, adding that windshield surveys and consolidated reporting to the emergency operations center would guide those choices.

Fire Chief Ritter reported the department will bring on seven new hires who will begin a two-week orientation on Sept. 8. “It's gonna take a lot of the burden off of the crews that have been burning the candle at both ends,” Ritter said. He said the department still needs four full-time equivalents (FTEs) in addition to those hires.

Ritter said two current members, Kara McDermott and Randall Sackman, will attend paramedic school, which he estimated takes “about a year and a half.” He described a union repayment agreement that generally requires employees to remain for three years or reimburse training costs if they leave before that period.

On water rescue, Ritter said Grays Harbor County's special operations (SORT) team will run two surface-water rescue awareness sessions in September so the department and police can deploy a new remote-control water drone called the Dolphin. “They're gonna come on the thirteenth and ... the nineteenth,” Ritter said, and said the classes are four hours each.

Ritter also announced a department open house set for Friday, Sept. 26, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., with Life Flight, the Department of Health and others expected to attend and demonstrations planned. He said the VFW would provide food and the department was exploring donating coats for children.

Discussion (not a formal action): Committee members asked whether the city has enough paramedics per shift; Ritter said the department remains short and that staffing levels have been achieved only “for a blink” in the past. Mandela and Ritter said the city is pursuing local training options and discussions with Grays Harbor College about restarting an in-county paramedic program.

Next steps: staff will run the tabletop exercise planning, schedule and hold the September water-rescue trainings tied to the Dolphin drone, onboard new hires Sept. 8, and proceed with the Sept. 26 open house. Committee members said additional discussions on staffing levels and possible revenue models for EMS services will be scheduled later.