Public Safety Commission hears update on regional emergency response coordination efforts

The Public Safety Commission heard an update on the city’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and its collaboration with other public safety entities at the commission’s regular meeting on Aug. 7.

The briefing was presented by HSEM Director Ken Snipes, who took over the role in June. In the presentation, Snipes addressed a list of questions posed to him by the commission with regard to how the department works in tandem with other public safety entities in its disaster preparation work.

Snipes told the commission that all of the city’s public safety agencies have reached out to him since he took over the position. He noted that the departments engage on a regular basis through trainings, engagement events and planning exercises, as well as during emergencies.

“More and more often now, weather is a driver for engagement,” Snipes said.

This summer, HSEM engaged with Austin-Travis County EMS to put out messaging regarding the extreme heat and preparedness tactics.

“We’ve worked together to put out messaging (on how) people should protect themselves during some of the hot weather that we’re seeing right now,” Snipes said. “We’ve put together some opportunities for people to receive cooling, which has been very successful.”

The department currently has a cooling site established at Republic Square Park, and collaborated with the Library and Parks and Recreation departments to further direct citizens in need to heat relief.

Recently, HSEM partnered with the city’s other public safety departments on a series of emergency preparedness pop-up events at local libraries.

“We provide information for the communities just to make sure that people know that we are a resource in helping them increase their resilience and preparedness,” Snipes said.

HSEM is also partnered with public safety entities outside of the city. The collaboration, which is called the “Big 5 Call,” includes Austin, Travis County, the University of Texas, Austin Community College, and the Austin Independent School District. The entities started meeting on a winter weather call to coordinate response. The group is now meeting with regard to extreme heat planning.

“Again to make sure that we understand the impacts of heat and that we’re getting the appropriate messaging out for people as they move about their day,” Snipes said.

Due to a recent change in Texas law, the department is expanding its use of the Texas Emergency Assistance Registry, which was initially conceived as a coastal evacuation support tool.

HSEM is also using a new tool called the Community Resiliency Improvement Status Portal, which allows it to store information related to past incidents. That information can be used to improve future response efforts.

Commissioner Pierre Nguyen asked how the commission might better support HSEM with regard to these collaboration and coordination efforts.

“You know, in our business, success and failure is often measured in either lives lost or saved, right?” Snipes said. “But the thing that is hard for us is lives that we prevented the loss of are hard to measure and quantify. And so I think the work to be done going forward is to help people realize the values of the work that is happening every day.”

Snipes continued: “One of the things we’ll be focused on a lot is getting people to understand the importance of preparedness and resilience. Having them understand what it means to be prepared in their own home, in their own communities, and being able to look out for one another. Because during an activation there may be a period of time where it takes time to cover a city this size. You know, Austin’s a very large city physically, and I think some people forget that.”

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