The City of HIllsboro responds to daily emergencies through its Fire, Police, Public Works and Water Departments. When an incident grows beyond the capability of our daily staffing levels, we call upon neighboring jurisdictions for assistance. The added capacity is usually enough to handle the problem.
When a disaster impacts more than just our city, however, neighboring agencies may not be able to assist, because they are responding in their own jurisdicitons. When this happens, we may need to:
- Increase response times: We are not able to respond as quickly as we normally would, due to increased calls for service. For short-duration events, such as a windstorm, this may happen. Our 9-1-1 center prioritizes incidents based upon whether life safety or property are at risk. Lower priority calls will not be responded to until higher priority calls are cleared.
- Call back off-duty personnel: Used for longer-duration events, as it may take an hour or more for off-duty personnel to arrive. We may use this for events that are expected to last for several days, such as snow storms.
- Increase work hours or add additional shifts: We may move to two 12-hour shifts in departments that are not normally staffed around the clock. For example, our Public Works Department does this in response to severe weather events.
For longer-duration events, or events where we need outside assistance, we use the Washington County multi-agency coordination system. This is comprised of the emergency response and support agencies, working together to respond to disasters. Disciplines may include public works, fire, law enforcement, emergency management, public health, 9-1-1, volunteer groups, and others. There are several actions we may take:
- Activate the Emergency Operations Center: The City of Hillsboro EOC is staffed with employees from the various city departments with the purpose of supporting the emergency responders in the field. In addition to logistical support for responders, other responsibilities may include conducting damage assessment, maintaining situation and resource status, purchasing supplies and equipment, requesting additional resources through the county/state/federal governments, communicating with assisting or cooperating agencies, communicating with the media, tracking expenses, activating and training volunteer groups, and writing contingency plans. Specific EOC roles and responsibilities vary by hazard type, impact and duration.
- Declare an emergency: When the City of Hillsboro does not have sufficient resources to respond to a disaster, they must declare a state of emergency under Hillsboro Municipal Code Chapter 2.46, Emergency Management. The declaration of emergency is a legal document that outlines the nature of the disaster, its impacts upon our community, emergency measures to be taken, and additional resources requested. The declaration of emergency is sent to Washington County to fill the resource requests. If they can provide the needed resources, they do. If not, they declare an emergency on behalf of all requesting jurisdictions in the county and send it on to the state. If the state us unable to provide the necessary resources, the Governor declares an emergency and requests federal assistance. If damages reach the level sufficient for a presidential declaration of emergency, it may be several days before federal resources arrive.
- Inform the publc: Public Information Officers from across the Washington County coordinate their messages and cross-check their details before providing information to the media. Because we comprise a common media viewing/listening area, we also coordinate with other jurisdictions across the Portland metro region. This ensures we provide common, comprehensive information to the public and avoid releasing conflicting messages. This is especially important for protective action instructions, such as evacuation routes, the need to boil water, requirement for traction devices on tires, or the location of warming shelters.
- Activate and train volunteers: When the number of volunteers we can muster from on-going relationships is not sufficient for our response needs, we may activate a volunteer center. Members of the community would report there to complete a skills assessment, receive training and a safety briefing, then be deployed to assist in response. Volunteers' activities are tracked to ensure their safety; adequate rest, feeding and hydration breaks; and to provide medical response in case of injury.
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