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Grosse
Ile Township is a single municipality formed by more than a
dozen small islands nestled together trepidatiously in the
Detroit River. Trepidatiously because this cluster is bounded on
one side of the river by Detroit, Michigan, and on the other
side by Ontario, Canada. Amidst so much industrialization, tiny
Grosse Ile has become a stopping-off point for migrating birds
and a welcome respite for city folk. Ten thousand people call
"The Island" (as it is known locally) home. Two
bridges take residents and visitors to and from the mainland.
Last
July 14, in nearby Riverview, methyl mercaptan leaked from a
rail car and burst into flame at the Atofina Chemical
Plant. The chemical spill and resulting explosion
killed three workers and sent toxic fumes across several
towns, the Detroit River and Grosse Ile.
Even though no lives were lost on
"The Island" itself, an analysis of the incident
afterward by the Southeast Michigan Coalition on Occupational
Safety and Health determined that it took too long to evacuate
people from the island. (See the
SEMCOSH report.) Emergency managers had to notify islanders
one-by-one by telephone. To alleviate the problem, Grosse Ile
Township obtained an ALERT AM
Emergency Advisory Radio System, along with a siren system,
which will streamline future evacuations, should they occur.
See Detroit
News article explaining why so many cities in the area are
getting ISS stations. |
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Explains
operations director Mark Tans -- his firm West Shore Services
provided marketing, design and installation services for both
the siren and radio systems on the project -- "The [Grosse
Ile] community was interested in providing the clearest way to
communicate messages to the public during emergency situations.
The AM radio station provides a means to communicate detailed
emergency information to everyone quickly. Grosse Ile purchased
the AM station as part of a comprehensive community warning
system that includes outdoor warning sirens, Informer Alert
Radios in vulnerable buildings (i.e., schools, nursing
home, medical facilities) and the ALERT AM Station. The
complete system provides the means to alert and inform the
community effectively and efficiently."
West Shore Services installed the groundplane,
set the pole and cabinet, routed services and provided a boom
truck for antenna testing/tuning by ISS. In addition to the
equipment and installation support, ISS provided licensing and
client training at Grosse Ile.
 Tans offers this advice to
emergency managers considering similar solutions:
"Communities should use ISS to obtain FCC licensing and to
plan standard messages for the system. Communities should also
develop a comprehensive educational program to inform the public
of the station and its role during emergencies and
non-emergencies." ISS agrees.
One particular challenge for
getting a new radio station up and running is creating digital
recordings and playlists
to broadcast. Message-programming is a common source of ISS
customer questions. To help ensure that Grosse Ile emergency
staff could create messages for their new system, ISS field
technician James Garboske conducted two onsite training
sessions. Says ISS owner Bill Baker, "Even though we
provide upfront training, people unfamiliar with the system may
not know exactly how they will want to use it until AFTER they
have had a chance to 'chew' on it a week or two. So, after the
initial training, we offer to create 'custom format sheets' for
them. These sheets will tell them specifically WHAT TO PRESS in
a specific situation, based on situations they have
identified on our questionnaire. For example, one situation for
Grosse Ile would be called CHEMICAL SPILL; another might be
FLOOD CLEANUP; another TORNADO AFTERMATH, etc.
"Also, we always give each
emergency team a step-by-step, written instruction manual along
with telephone support. It's easy to forget, if you aren't
working with the system on a day-to-day basis."
What was West Shore's experience
working with ISS and the ALERT AM system on this project?
Tans answers, "We continue to be impressed by the
completeness of the AM station in its functionality, flexibility
and components. System installation is straightforward and well
documented. ISS is great to work with because of its
knowledgeable, friendly and supportive staff." |
