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County approves emergency-management exercises and upgrades to 911 communications and tools
Summary
Hamilton County approved a $15,000 hazardous-materials exercise contract, continued Comcast backup services for the new 911 center, approved a locution-system change order, and agreed to purchase a $3,000-per-year EM1 AI tool to help evaluate emergency plans.
Hamilton County commissioners approved a set of public-safety and emergency-management items on May 27, including a hazardous-materials exercise contract, continued telecommunications services for 911 operations and a small-scale subscription to an emergency-management artificial-intelligence tool.
Ryan Tennyson (Emergency Management) said the county previously accepted a $15,000 Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grant to support an annual exercise for the Local Emergency Planning Committee and that this year’s exercise must be a full-scale hazardous- materials transportation incident to test response plans. Staff requested approval of a $15,000 contract with Resilient Strategies to plan and deliver the exercise; the board approved the scope and signature.
Mike Hodes (9-1-1/Public Safety Communications) requested approval of a Comcast business service order to serve as an Internet and service backup for the new backup center; commissioners approved that order. Hodes also presented a change order to move ongoing maintenance for the county’s locution system (the automated 911 dispatching system) to the vendor; commissioners approved the change order so the vendor will provide ongoing maintenance with county oversight. Hodes requested a signature to continue printer services at a backup PSAP, which the board also approved.
Tennyson also sought approval for EM1 Technologies, described as a secure artificial-intelligence tool for emergency management that evaluates plans, policies and procedures to identify gaps; staff proposed a $3,000 annual subscription for a first-year trial and the board approved the purchase. Tennyson said EM1 will help staff rapidly identify planning gaps and prepare revised plans for exercises.
The new full-scale hazardous-materials exercise, continued telecommunications redundancy and the locution maintenance change order are intended to keep emergency response capabilities current and to shift some ongoing maintenance responsibility to vendors while preserving county oversight. The county approved the Resilient Strategies contract, the Comcast business service, the locution change order and the EM1 Technologies purchase during the meeting.
