Featured Article -- October 2007

North Kansas City participates in regional homeland security initiatives

--Submitted by the North Kansas City Police and Fire Departments

For the last several years the city of North Kansas City has been involved in numerous Homeland Security projects associated with the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funding from the Department of Homeland Security. The funding is administered by the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), and directed toward regional initiatives associated with the response to an incident, natural or manmade, along with the protection and safety of the public.

The North Kansas City Fire Department and Police Department are represented on a variety of MARC committees: the Regional Homeland Security Coordinating Committee (RHSCC), the Communications Interoperability subcommittee, the Metropolitan Emergency Information System/Personnel Accountability Security System subcommittee, the First Responders subcommittee, the Law Enforcement subcommittee, the Web EOC subcommittee, the Kansas City Regional TEW, and the Critical Incident Site Management (CISM) project.

The Critical Incident Site Management (CISM) project is a very important project that requires a partnership between the private sector, citizens and project directors.

CISM uses technology to help first responders during a critical incident at a specific location. This system will allow first responders and supervisors in the field to access important information that can help those responding to the scene of a critical incident. Information about critical sites is obtained through detailed site surveys and placed on mobile computers which are available to the responders at the “click of the mouse.” This allows for more effective and efficient implementation of evacuation sites, triage sites, street closures and other immediate operational necessities.

This project encompasses the entire MARC region, providing a single database of planned responses that will allow all jurisdictions within the region access to the critical information needed to stabilize an incident. This cross-jurisdictional access improves interoperability and information sharing.

Currently, more than 1,200 sites have been identified by for inclusion in the database, and it is probable those numbers will increase over the coming months. The database is designed with sustainability and flexibility in mind to keep it useful for years to come.

Business owners in North Kansas City who are interested in having a member of the fire department or police department help in the development of this portion of their business’ emergency operation plan should contact Captain Sal Scarpa at 816-274-6025 or Officer Terry Lierman at 816-412-7953.

 

 

 

The threat level in the airline sector is HIGH or Orange. See www.dhs.gov for details.

An online Suspicious Activity Report Form (SAR) will be available soon.