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Drills prepare KCDOT for regional emergencies
 Emergency
drills are an important part of
King County Department of Transportation’s preparedness for both
natural and human-caused disasters.
KCDOT’s transportation services connect all jurisdictions, agencies and
residents of King County. If an emergency affects Metro bus service,
closes a road in the unincorporated areas, or shuts down the King County
International Airport (KCIA) at Boeing Field, it will most likely have a
domino effect throughout the region.
"Emergency preparedness drills teach all of our various divisions how to
coordinate with each other and with outside agencies to assess any
threats in safely continuing to deliver services to the public," said
KCDOT Director Harold Taniguchi.
The three large divisions within KCDOT –
transit, roads and airport – hold a variety of drills and training
exercises on a regular basis to be ready for the real thing.
“As one of the main transportation hubs in the northwest, King County is
home to major highways, air transportation, railroad operations and a
deep-water marine port,” said Eric Holdeman, director of
King County Emergency Services.
“It makes our area vulnerable to all types of transportation
emergencies.”
The goal at KCDOT is to plan for, respond to, and assist public-safety
agencies in managing all hazardous events that could affect King County
residents. Since a major incident can occur without warning and
immediately overwhelm responders, advance planning and preparedness is
essential.
King County Metro Transit holds quarterly emergency drills. Mike DeCapua,
who heads up the emergency planning efforts for Metro, says transit
staff use incident command techniques from the National Incident
Management System (NIMS) to comply with national standards. NIMS came
about from Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, which requires
that all agencies responding to emergencies must use a standardized
incident command system.
“Natural disasters are the most-likely emergencies facing Metro, but the
emergency concepts we practice during drills can apply to all hazards,”
said DeCapua.
 In
early December, Transit held an earthquake drill that projected a major
Seattle Fault Zone quake, impassable roads, bridges down, major bus
reroutes, and mandatory evacuation of key transit bases. It also gave
Transit an opportunity to break in the new Mobile Command and
Communications Van, which was purchased this year with a federal grant.
 At
the airport, staff holds a tabletop drill on paper every year and then
tries to hold a simulated drill every three years.
“Our last tabletop drill focused on a mid-air collision over Boeing
Field,” said KCIA Director Bob Burke. “Do we anticipate a mid-air crash
happening here – absolutely not, but we still have to be prepared for
one.”
 Burke
said his staff knows an earthquake could hit anytime, but none of them
expected the kind of damage KCIA suffered from the 2001 Nisqually
Earthquake. He said they were amazed by the huge fissure that opened up
in the middle of the main runway, and geysers spewing from broken water
lines and other underground sources.
“The drills are a great opportunity for our Aircraft Rescue & Fire
Fighting (ARFF) unit to practice with other emergency agencies,
particularly the Seattle and Tukwila police and fire departments,” said
Burke. “Because, any disaster at the airport will require mutual aid.”
The King County Road Services Division is usually at the center of
mutual aid responses, since the road network connects all communities
throughout the county. Roads is among the first-tier responders in any
disaster drill hosted by the King County Office of Emergency Management.
When it comes to its own emergency planning, the Roads Division
concentrates on identifying lifeline routes throughout the county –
those arterials, streets and roads that are key to delivering emergency
services. The Maintenance section of Roads is already focused on keeping
those roads passable, because they are the same ones that receive
priority attention during winter storms. So, every time it snows or ices
over, Maintenance is learning lessons about keeping those crucial roads
open.
“We are always a major player when someone is drilling, because there is
always a transportation component to any disaster,” said Bernie
Thompson, who helps coordinate emergency planning for the Roads
Division.
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