Beaver County Emergency Services Radiologicalprogram staff spent two great evenings this fall withthe Baden Fire Department on training and reviewingEmergency Worker Decontamination Station (EWDS)procedures. Baden Fire Department is one of fourdepartments designated as an EWDS within Alleghenyand Beaver Counties.

EWDS training and exercises are an ongoing part of theradiological offsite training program that is provided byBeaver County Emergency Services. Each year,Emergency Services and BVPS staff meet with theAmbridge, Baden, Crescent (Allegheny County), andDarlington Fire Departments to provide this training ontheir role in the event of a radiological incident at theBeaver Valley Power Station (BVPS) in Shippingport.

Every two years, one of these stations is evaluated bythe Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency(PEMA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) on their knowledge and ability to provide deconservices to those emergency workers who may beresponding within the 10 miles emergency planningzone of the BVPS during a radiological incident.

RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY WORKERDECONTAMINATION STATIONS

Jeff McKay

BEAVER COUNTYEMERGENCY

SERVICES

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C O N T E N T S

Radiological EWDS01 - 02

Recent Exercises03

Director's Corner04

News & Notes05

Christmas Card04

Persevere PA06

Events Calendar05

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If there would be an evacuation of the 10 mile radius of the Beaver Valley Power Station, EMS, Fire, Police,

Public Works personnel, and bus drivers who would be working in that area during the incident may be

exposed and/or contaminated with radiological material. At the end of their tasks, they would be asked to

report to an Emergency Worker Decon Station to have themselves and their vehicles evaluated for

radiological contamination. Once an emergency worker arrives at the Emergency Worker Decon Station,

they are greeted by one of the firefighters and directed through the decontamination procedure. First,

before they leave their vehicle, their feet are checked for contamination, and if cleared, they will proceed

to the registration table. Next, they are directed to a walk through a radiation scanner that will detect any

contamination on their body. If there is no detected radiation, they proceed to the thyroid check area.

Once they clear this area, the Emergency Worker will next turn in their dosimetry equipment and are

finally released.

If contamination is found, they will go through a more in depth scanning procedure to determine where

the contamination is located. Depending on the amount and location of contamination found, the

Emergency Worker may only have to wash their hands or be required to take a complete shower. If it’s

determined that the contamination cannot be removed, then they would be sent to the hospital for further

treatment. While the above procedures are going on inside, outside the EWDS, response vehicles are being

scanned completely inside and out for possible radiological contamination. If no contamination is

detected, the vehicles are released. However, if contamination is detected, the vehicle will be

decontaminated and possibly quarantined.

This is just one of the many jobs that emergency workers complete above and beyond their normal daily

responsibilities to protect each other and the public each day. On behalf of the BVPS and Beaver County

Emergency Management, we would like to thank these departments for being part of the BVPS radiological

response program. They do a great job and always receive exemplary comments from the evaluators each

and every year. Keep up the good work! We always enjoy coming out and providing the training and

comradery. And to all: Stay Safe!

Pictured above: Beaver County Radiological Staff work with members of the Baden Fire Department on

Emergency Worker Decontamination Station procedures.

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RECENT EXERCISESDoug Humble

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Beaver County Emergency Servicesfacilitated an Active Shooter Exercise andTraining Day at the Beaver ValleyIntermediate Unit on October 6, 2020. Thetraining day incorporated a review ofActive Shooter Best Practices followed by“Stop the Bleed” training for participants. Following the morning training, two fullscale exercises were conducted includingan active shooter player, victim actors andemergency responders. Participatingemergency agencies included BeaverCounty Emergency Services and 911, ESUTeam member, Center Township Policeand Fire Departments and Medic Rescue.

Beaver County HAZMAT Team 700conducted a Self-Evaluated Exercise onOctober 21, 2020. This exercise was arequired element of the state's 4 yearrecertification process. The drill testedthe ability of the team to respond to arequest for assistance with a unknownleaking substance at an old steel millsite. The exercise was designed for theteam to analyze the incident, plan aresponse and implement the plan. Italso evaluated the response progressand proper termination of the response.All participants, controllers andevaluators were pleased with theexercise and training it provided.

Most CAD incidents overall: Medic RescueMost CAD incidents Police (alphabetical order): Aliquippa, Ambridge, Beaver Falls Most CAD incidents Fire (alphabetical order): Aliquippa, Beaver Falls, Center Township Busiest time of day: 1500-1600 hour Busiest day: FridaysLandlines continue to decline. About 60% of the United States lives in a wireless-only household. Themajority of the calls that are received for emergencies are from a wireless phone. This makes it moredifficult to get an accurate location.

Radio ID’s: You may hear some different radio identification numbers on the police side of the radio systemat the beginning of the year. Some departments will be using four digit call numbers that identify theofficer, not the car number. I’ve received questions about the COVID-19 vaccine. It was on the news about first responders being in the1-A group of those to receive the vaccine. At the time of writing this, the PaDOH has no plan in place todistribute the COVID-19 vaccine to first responders. They have identified them as being a high priority;however, they are unable to tell anyone on how they plan on getting it in the arms of first responders.Frustrations are being felt throughout the Commonwealth from many first responder organizations.Police Departments: Watch for business listing update information at the beginning of the year. Fire Departments: Watch for run card update information at the beginning of the year.Municipal Emergency Management Coordinators: Re-evaluate and update your Emergency OperationsPlan for the upcoming year. Remember to include evacuation information as well as updating yourNotification and Resource Manual. Once complete, you can forward that to our office. If you needassistance, please contact our Emergency Management Staff.

Closing out 2020, the following stats are year to date, January 1, 2020 – December 18, 2020

Coming up in 2021

DIRECTOR'S CORNEREric Brewer, Emergency Services Director

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Wishing you a MerryChristmas

and aSafe & Happy New Year!

From Eric Brewer& the Staff ofBeaver County

Emergency Services

EVENTS CALENDARDecember 9: Firefighters Association Meeting, Garage, 6:30 PMDecember 16: Chiefs of Police Meeting, Garage, NoonDecember 21: First day of WinterDecember 25 & 28: Merry Christmas, County Offices Closed

January 1: Happy New Year! County Offices ClosedJanuary 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, County Offices ClosedJanuary 20: Chiefs of Police Meeting, Garage, NoonJanuary 20: Hazmat Team Training, Tentative

February 9: VOAD & LEPC Meetings, 11 AM & 1 PM, VirtualFebruary 15: Presidents Day, County Offices ClosedFebruary 17: Chiefs of Police Meeting, Garage, NoonFebruary 17: Hazmat Team Training, TentativeFebruary 23: Municipal EMC Quarterly Training, 1:30 & 6:30 PM, Virtual

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ALL EVENTS ARE LOCATED AT THE BEAVER COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES CENTER, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

For more information on any of the above listed events, or to add your public safety event to future calendars, please email the editor at: smu@beavercountypa.gov

NEWS & NOTESCongratulations to Cole Zurik on his promotion to full time telecommunicator inNovember of 2020!ID badges will be issued to Law Enforcement Officers who require an ID to enter theBeaver County Courthouse and EMS personnel only. Appointments and departmenthead authorization are required in advance.  Please call 724-775-1700 to schedule anappointment or for more information.As of January 1, 2020, the Beaver County 911 Center has discontinued faxingincident information and updates to local departments. Local agencies can use theNetViewer website to securely access incident information or they may choose tohave closed incident reports emailed to them.  If your agency is ready to upgrade,please contact Jim McCarthy at 724-775-1700 or jmccarthy@beavercountypa.gov.

EMERGENCY SERVICES

351 14th Street

Ambridge, PA 15003

724-775-1700

BEAVER COUNTY

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

DANIEL C. CAMP III, CHAIRMAN

JACK MANNING

TONY AMADIO

EMERGENCY SERVICES

ADMINISTRATION

ERIC BREWER, DIRECTOR

KEVIN WHIPPLE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR

FRANK PARRIS, DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Beaver County Courthouse • 810 Third Street • Beaver, PA 15009

724-728-3934 • www.beavercountypa.gov

The Beaver County Emergency Services Newsletter

is created and published by the Beaver County

Emergency Services center.

Beaver County Emergency Services is a division of Beaver County government,

under the authority of the Beaver County Board of Commissioners. Emergency

Services manages the county’s 9-1-1 dispatch operations center and also serves

as the county’s Emergency Management office, working under the direction of

the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) on emergency

preparedness, planning, mitigation, response, and recovery.

The Emergency Services center is also the home of the county’s Hazardous

Materials Response Team, the Local Emergency Planning Commission (LEPC)

and is the contact point for many other public safety organizations, including

EMS, Fire, Police, and Municipal EMA services. Emergency Services works in

conjunction with a number of county and offsite agencies to provide

comprehensive public safety guidance and emergency support to Beaver County.

Want to contribute?

E-mail the editor,

Schuyler Mu , at

smu@beavercountypa.gov