CONTACTS
|
November 08 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine
My View
Tony Stanford: Emergency operations at Los Alamos
Photo by Sandra Valdez
Recent events throughout the country—especially those triggered by severe weather and wildland fire conditions—have demonstrated the importance of emergency management. Here at Los Alamos, the Emergency Operations (EO) Division is a critical part of the Laboratory's emergency management program and represents the linkage between Laboratory employees and our first responders, including emergency managers and incident commanders,
the Hazardous Devices Team, Hazmat, emergency medical services, and fire, police, security, and safety personnel.
Managing the program is challenging, because emergency response at the Laboratory is complicated by the size, scope, and diversity of its nuclear, chemical, biological, and hazardous material holdings. Critical to emergency management is the development and implementation of protective actions that would have to be performed during an actual emergency.
A sound emergency-management program consists of trained and experienced personnel capable of preparing for a disaster before it happens and providing disaster response and recovery. Laboratory emergency responders and other emergency personnel must be skilled in all areas of fire protection, handling hazardous materials, emergency response, and event mitigation. When not responding to actual emergencies, EO personnel are proactively involved in pre-emergency planning and nonemergency consultation to help reduce the potential for or severity of future emergencies.
This last fiscal year has been a very busy and successful one for our organization with a great deal of program development, which included completing the Department of Energy Corrective Action Plan; ensuring that our EO Program was compliant with the DOE order; identifying and mitigating risk through hazards surveys and emergency-planning hazards assessments; improving staffing levels, training, and qualifications; enhancing the Wildland Fire Program; implementing formality of operations that encompasses accurate and controlled policies, procedures, and implementation plans; and integrating emergency management into Lab facilities using the LANL deployed model.
Emergency management is a continuous process that requires hazards analysis, training, coordination, and practice. Our recent full-scale, full-participation exercise was a case in point. It involved a simulated terrorist attack and included members from SOC-Los Alamos, the Lab's protective force; the Security and Safeguards Directorate; the Los Alamos Police Department; and the FBI. The Laboratory received positive comments from the DOE evaluation team on the exercise planning package, complexity, and response capability.
Being prepared for an emergency or a disaster allows the Laboratory to respond more effectively and recover faster, but the Laboratory's emergency management program is not only for Laboratory employees. It also is intended to protect our facilities, our community, and the environment.
—Tony Stanford, Emergency Operations Division leader
Other Headlines
|
Issues
|
