the BLAH-G

Let’s get right to the point, this Blah-g was started to get Westmoreland County PA a better radio system than the 800 Mhz Crap the County Commissioners and 911 Directors were able to regurgitate. If this is the best they can do, a crappy Motorola system that no one can understand with transmissions being missed left and right and the other ones being severely garbled, we are really in deep shit.

I haven’t written about this Emergency Radio System for more than a few weeks because there isn’t anything new to tell, just the same old crap with system failures everywhere... until the other day when Talk Group 394 was activated !

TG 394 is for the Westmoreland County Transit Authority, another NON-EMERGENCY carrier now hogging up space on an all ready over crowded trunked EMERGENCY radio system.

Lets now count the WASTE that is cluttering the FIVE available frequencies being used with our EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT RADIO CYST-EM:

County Courthouse Maintenance: non-emergency, could be handled with the old VHF radio system or a large pair of lungs.

County Parks Maintenance: non-emergency, could be handled with the old VHF system or bull horns.

County Road Maintenance: non-emergency, could be handled with the old VHF system or cell phones.

County Public Safety: non-emergency most of the time. Matason, Brammell, Tantlinger and Stevens Love their PIZZA, but Tantlinger, Inc. found out it’s not a tax write-off. For Pete Sake, they all carry Blackberry Boy Toys so they don’t need to hog up the 800 Mhz Radio Frequencies with their PIZZA orders ! Use the damn Blackberries !!

Weights and Measurements: non-emergency all of the time. They don’t need radios, they need another job.

Mutual Aid Ambulance Service: Even though this PRIVATE COMPANY does a fantastic service saving lives, they also run a SHUTTLE SERVICE for patients. That Shuttle Service is all non-emergency and should be confined to their 155.715 Mhz privately FCC issued frequency they are licensed to use. Damn Man, use the 800 Mhz system for emergencies… transfer Mrs. Rash via your own VHF frequency !

And now…

Westmoreland County Transhit Authority: non-emergency. Use morse code on the air horns ! How did they manage to communicate before this 800 Mhz system ? After all, the county has had buses running for years ! You should hear these guys on the emergency radio system, using it exactly like CB’s Good Buddy, Pedal to the Metal, and Catch Ya On The Flip Flop.

If you (Moe, Larry and Curly in the Court House) have to have the above services running on an 800 Mhz system, BUY ANOTHER ONE FOR THEM, but keep them off the emergency trafficking network set-up for the Police, Medics and Firemen.

They need this radio system, as bad as it is, to handle vehicle chases, license checks, heart attack victims, vehicle accidents, house fires, etc…

Our county is just throwing away money by the fist full, paying for stuff we don’t need and creating 911 positions that are not really needed, Right Chris ?

At least if we are going to put someone in a position of authority, make sure they are qualified !! Chris Tantlinger does not have the qualifications to be in the position given to him. He is only there because his WIFE is the SECRETARY to our wonderful COMMPISSIONER PHIL LIGHT. And they both live in the Ligonier Area.Talk about GIVING A JOB TO A FRIEND !!!

Next…

OPERATION GARBLED MICROPHONE was held this weekend in Ligonier with the Million Dollar Command Center in operation. Just about everyone was there looking important and a good bit of the actual important communications were held over NON 800 Mhz radios. Da ! Many a times I hear the command center say “Go to your VHF frequency and call … “.

All in all only 2 scratches were put on the command center and one cup of coffee was spilled. Not bad. Next time maybe they will take enough radios. Fort Ligonier Days was not handled any better than in the past. In the past they didn’t have any problems.

The point is, dragging out that BIG BUS was NOT NEEDED.


And then next…

Next weekend should be really fun !! I understand the BEACH BOYS might even be performing as Rock ‘N Roll Fatalities. Please Read The Following, and for what it’s worth, the name URBAN THUNDER was thought up by Richard Matason as he was entering 911’s Bathroom…
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Planning Underway for “Urban Thunder” Exercise

The initial planning conference for Exercise Urban Thunder was held on March 15 in Founders Hall on the main campus of the Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.

The county’s Department of Public Safety briefed more than 80 persons, representing dozens of departments and agencies on the exercise goals and objectives, required training, and exercise budgetary issues. Urban Thunder is the most ambitious and complex exercise in a series of full-scale field exercises conducted by the Department of Public Safety since 2001 that includes Mallstrike 2001, Crimson Lion 2004, Kopper River 2004 and Twisted Rail 2005.

Urban Thunder will comprehensively exercise and evaluate the participating agencies’ and jurisdictions’ capability to manage and/or respond to an all-hazard disaster emergency that may include act of weapons of mass destruction terrorism. Urban Thunder is a multi-jurisdictional, multi-hazard exercise conducted in a no-inspection, no-fault, learning environment and will include participants from throughout the functional spectrum (incident command, fire, bomb squad, law enforcement, HazMat, EMS, dispatch, hospitals, coroner, public affairs, elected officials, emergency operations centers).

Departments, agencies and organizations that have submitted their exercise registrations and paperwork as the end of March include Murrysville Police Department, Lloydsville VFD, Washington Township Emergency Management, Smithton Borough Emergency Management, Torrance State Hospital, City of Johnstown IEOC, North Huntingdon Township Emergency Management, North Huntingdon Township Police Department, the Regional Joint Readiness Center/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Allegheny Energy, Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Western Area, Hazardous Materials Team 800, the Westmoreland County Commissioners and numerous county departments and agencies. Exercise planners expect dozens of additional departments, agencies and organizations to be submitting their exercise registration and paperwork in the upcoming weeks.

The exercise will cover a 24-hour period, beginning at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, October 20, 2006, and ending at 12:00 noon on October 21. Exercise participants will select the type of exercise they wish to play (BLAH-Ger Note: Wish we could do that in real life, eh ?), the scenario they wish to use, the time period during which they want to play, and the capabilities/tasks/outcomes on which they wish to be evaluated. Exercise types include both basic and advanced tabletop exercise and operations-based drills, functional exercises and full-scale exercises. Exercise scenarios include a terrorist/WMD event; a HazMat event; emergency operations center operations; LEA task force operations; a bomb squad event; an urban search and rescue event; emergency relocation of government services; a severe weather event (tornado, flood, etc); a mass casualty incident; or a combination of any or all.

The County emergency operations center will operate continuously throughout the 24-hour exercise period. All participating agencies will pick a time period during which they intend to play. It may be as short as an hour, as long as 24 hours, or any time period in between. The capabilities that will be exercised and evaluated during Urban Thunder include the following:

• Onsite Incident Management
• Emergency Operations Center Management
• Public Safety and Security Response
• Firefighting Operations/Support
• Citizen Protection: Evacuation and/or In-Place Protection
• Law Enforcement Investigations and Operations
• Emergency Public Information and Warning
• Triage and Pre-hospital Treatment
• Mass Care (Sheltering, Feeding, Related Services)
• WMD/Hazardous Materials
• Response and Decontamination
• Restoration of Lifelines
• Continuity of Government

Training classes for the exercise will be conducted during the May to September timeframe. An exercise working group has been formed to do the planning and organizational tasks necessary to make the exercise a success.

This group will meet monthly at the county’s emergency operations center. Any department, agency or organization wishing to participate in the Urban Thunder program may request these forms by contacting Rich Matason at 724-600-7301 or by email at rmatason@co.westmoreland.pa.us. Exercise Urban Thunder is sponsored by the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety and the Region 13 Counter-Terrorism Task Force.

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New Emergency Management Committee Plans for Catastrophes

The hospitals of the Excela Health System in Westmoreland County – Westmoreland Regional, Latrobe and Frick – have joined with the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety and numerous emergency response organizations to form an emergency planning working group that will concentrate on hospital and emergency management response to a variety of potential scenarios.

Members of the Emergency Management Planning Committee include the Department of Public Safety, Excela Health System, the Westmoreland County MH/MR Program, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army Western PA Emergency Disaster Services, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Department of Health-SWDistrict, the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department, the Greensburg Police Department, the Greensburg Emergency Management Agency, the Mount Pleasant Police Department, the Ligonier Valley Ambulance Service, Excela Health Mutual Aid EMS, and the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit.

The committee is currently working on developing a series of contingency plans for a variety of “large scale” to “catastrophic” events that would result in mass casualties. Contingency plans will be “tabletop” exercised as they are developed and, when validated, will become the operational plans for specific types of incidents/events. Among the scenarios to be developed in the near future will be a contingency plan for a pandemic flu outbreak in the county.
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Drill to prepare crews for the worst
By Rich Cholodofsky
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, October 16, 2006

Weapons of mass destruction will be discovered at the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Saturday during the largest disaster drill ever conducted in Westmoreland County, officials said.

Called "Urban Thunder," the two-day event will involve about 50 agencies and more than 700 participants to assess the county's ability to handle a major disaster.

"The goal is to get as many activities as possible at the same time to see how we respond to it," said Rich Matason, Westmoreland County's public safety director.

The drill is scheduled to begin at noon Friday, when law enforcement personnel are called out to handle a situation at Westmoreland County Community College near Youngwood.

While officials haven't disclosed the exact script for the drill, Matason said much of Friday's activities will involve emergency workers and public safety officials searching for the location of what is believed to be weapons of mass destruction somewhere in the county.

The courthouse will be open to the public as usual on Friday.
On Saturday, the scene shifts to Greensburg and the courthouse, where those weapons eventually will be discovered, Matason said.

Meanwhile, county emergency workers will have to deal with severe weather scenarios in the Ligonier and West Newton areas, and a law enforcement situation in Murrysville. Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township will hold its own drill and act as a shelter for the disaster.
Rescue workers, police, hospital workers and hazardous material crews throughout the county will be dispatched during the drill. Volunteers will be used as victims.

Matason said all aspects of a disaster will be acted out, included media coverage. Students from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and Seton Hill University will pose as reporters covering the disaster, he said.
"It's a very ambitious exercise," Matason said.

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(Blah-ger note: This document will not post properly on the Blah-g. If you would like a copy of the actual form used by 911, download it by clicking HERE.)

Exercise “Urban Thunder”
Public Safety Agency Participation Form

RETURN THIS FORM BEFORE YOU LEAVE

Name of Agency:______________________________________________________

Primary Contact for Exercise:________________________________________ Title:_____________________

Phone # ( ) ______________
Cell Phone # ( ) ______________
E-Mail _______________________________

Level of Participation Desired (indicate the levels in which you expect your Organization to participate)

_____ Pre-Exercise Training Sessions
_____ Specialty Equipment Drill
_____ Tabletop Exercise
_____ Full-scale Local Field Exercise
_____ Functional EOC Exercise

The chart below contains scenarios and a 24-Hour schedule for the Functional and Full-Scale Exercises to be conducted in “Urban Thunder”.

 To facilitate Exercise planning, please choose a maximum of three (3) scenarios in which your Agency may be interested in participating.

 Choose a timeframe ( 2 hour, 4 hour, 6 hour etc.) between 1200 Hours Friday, October 20, 2006 and 0800 Hours Saturday, October 21, 2006 for participation (1200-1600; 1600-2000; etc). There is also a potential scenario that will occur between 0800-1200 Friday, Oct. 20. Please list at least two (2) preferences.

 If your Agency wishes to be involved with another Agency or Agencies for the purposes of Exercising Mutual Aid Responses in accordance with local Emergency Response Plans, please indicate which Agency or Agencies, and in which jurisdiction you would like to conduct the local Field Exercise.

 For each scenario, the participating agency or agencies MUST assign a minimum of two (2) individuals who will serve as Exercise Staff Members (Evaluator, Controller, Liaison Officer). These individuals are required to participate in all training and planning sessions that may be required of their particular Exercise function. If an individual is not able to participate in all of these sessions, please do not assign them to those roles.

Scenario Scenario Choice
In Order of Preference (Maximum of 3)

Preferred Timeframe in Order of Preference
(Please choose 2)

Other Agency or Agencies You Wish to Directly Participate With If Multiple Agency Exercise, Name Hosting Municipality Local EOC Activation Only

Pre-Exercise Law Enforcement Tactical
(0800-1200 Friday, Oct. 20)
Field Hospital Activation (Tentative)
Bomb Squad / Explosive Device
Mass Casualty Incident
Scenario Scenario Choice
In Order of Preference (Maximum of 3)

Preferred Timeframe in Order of Preference
(Please choose 2)

Other Agency or Agencies You Wish to Directly Participate With If Multiple Agency Exercise, Name Hosting Municipality
HazMat
Law Enforcement Tactical
Radiation Response
Fire Suppression
Urban Search & Rescue (Tentative)
Continuity of Government (COG)

If there is a scenario in which your Agency would like to receiving training but is not listed above, please indicate that scenario, preferred timeframe and preferred location. The “Urban Thunder” Planning Staff will make every effort to accommodate your request if it can be added to the Master Scenario Events List.

OTHER

Thank you for your interest in “Urban Thunder”! The Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety looks forward to your involvement.

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OPERATION URBAN BLUNDER

This should be some JOKE, just like the others. For those involved please don’t mis-understand this Blah-ger. Your work for OUR COUNTY is greatly appreciated and in NO WAY is this Blah-ger putting YOU down.

The JOKE is with the EQUIPMENT you are given to work with, ie... the RADIO CYST-EM.

I sure hope the county invested another Billion Dollars in backup batteries for all those portable radios. If you want to see how we would really come out in an actual emergency, half of the people involved should take radios that are in need of charging, as they normally would be.

What the hell good is an exercise if everyone is given advanced notice. Think about it. When was the last time you had a month warning that you were going to be in an accident, plus given the details of your accident including where it was going to happen. Really swift Mr. M.

If the users of this crap would like a better radio system in the 400 Mhz range for example like you keep telling me in your emails, YOU have to speak up. Let your voice be heard !! Call the Westmoreland County Commpissioners, YELL AND SCREAM at them as they are hard of hearing...

I had better go before Moe, Larry and Curly try and revive Shemp.

DECODED,
K3SAM
Sam W. Jacobs, CET
Licensed Communications Consultant / Communications Specialist

http://800.k3sam.com – website
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