The 14^th Annual National Homeland Security Conference (NHSC) was recently held in Las Vegas, Nevada from August 30^th, 2021, to September 2^nd, 2021. The NHSC is an annual event sponsored by the National Homeland Security Association that is designed to bring together professionals from across the homeland security enterprise. Each year, the NHSC provides a variety of trainings, breakout sessions, dynamic keynote speakers, and tours of local target hazards or previous pertinent events to educate and provide information on topics ranging from cybersecurity to counterterrorism and grants management. The Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) sponsored the attendance of 16 stakeholder agency personnel, as well as MDERS staff members.

This year’s NHSC participants attended presentations on unmanned aircraft systems, the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violent extremist, cyber security, and more. The evaluations reflected that the participants benefited greatly from attending these sessions. Some comments include:

“I have a greater understanding of the capabilities and threats posed by unmanned systems. I also learned about existing and emerging technologies and the capabilities utilized to remediate these systems.”

“I enjoyed the session on planning for a multiple agency response exercise. The speaker gave me a better idea on how to get the agencies I would need in participation on board.”

Kinetic Mobile Tabletops: The Answer to Crawl Walk Run

At this year’s NHSC, MDERS Emergency Response Planner Michael Ryman, and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) Captain Dwayne Dutrow, presented a breakout session titled: Kinetic Mobile Tabletops: The Answer to Crawl, Walk, Run. This hour-long session covered the three-year development of the MDERS Tabletop in a Box program and how it can be deployed as a systematic, scalable, and economical capability development tool across various emergency response disciplines. The presentation concluded with a review of real-world success stories from personnel who participated in various iterations of the MDERS Tabletop in a Box Program.

The MDERS Tabletop in a Box program is a coordinated effort with stakeholder agencies to provide a portable Incident Command System (ICS) training tool. The Tabletop in a Box program includes pre-scripted exercises, manipulatives, and maps of target hazard locations within their area of jurisdiction. This programs main tool is a portable box containing all materials required to run a hybrid exercise. This approach provides stakeholders with a forum to discuss, evaluate, and deconflict their response policies and procedures in a collaborative environment.

Since 2018, MDERS has delivered a total of 38 TTXs to law enforcement, fire/rescue/EMS, public health, and hospital stakeholders in the Maryland-NCR.

In response to topics covered at the 2021 Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) Virtual Symposium, the Training and Exercise Team received many requests for follow up presentations. These requests resulted in the creation of the 2021-2022 MDERS Webinar Series.

One of the requests from the MDERS stakeholders was for a follow-on conversation that elaborated in greater detail topics discussed during the 2021 MDERS Symposium. In response, on October 6^th, 2021, MDERS hosted the Leveraging Open-Source Intelligence for Preventative Public Safety Purposes webinar in partnership with the New York Police Department (NYPD) Intelligence Bureau’s (IB) Global Trends & Developments Team. The event was attended by 37 stakeholders, representing 25 agencies and numerous disciplines throughout the NCR and the State of Maryland.

NYPD Intelligence Analysts briefed National Capital Region (NCR) stakeholders on current threat assessments for global terrorism and mass violence. They also expanded on topics including racially and ethnically motivated violent extremism, leveraging intelligence by law enforcement, and developing event threat assessments. NYPD utilized recent cases studies, including the January 6 events at the Capitol, to further assess how these concepts should be applied to real-world events.

MDERS collected evaluations from the participants at the end of the webinar to assess the content discussed and to inform future training opportunities. Stakeholder comments from the Leveraging Open-Source Intelligence for Preventative Public Safety Purposes webinar include:

• “I learned about catalytic events and how these events may motivate a malicious actor, who may or may not have pre-existing ties to an extremists’ group or ideology.”
• “The most valuable part of this training was learning about the available tools for public and private sector, about the catalytic events vs. reactive violence and about the different extremist groups.”
• “Each presentation flowed very well into the next presenter and was all relevant without the speaker’s content duplicating. I thought it was great.”
• “The most valuable part of this training was learning about the coordination and facilitation of the of sharing of open-source intelligence with the appropriate agencies to assist them with their missions, how to utilize appropriate intelligence information in planning efforts, and how to leverage available tools to assist public safety agencies carry out their mission.”

MDERS will host the second webinar in this training series in early 2022, which will focus on cyber threats and their impacts to homeland security and public safety.

For more information on future webinars and other training opportunities, please contact Hannah Thomas at Hannah.Thomas1@maryland.gov.

In a time of constrained resources and ever-evolving threats across  the homeland security enterprise, utilizing emerging technology to overcome capability gaps remains a challenging process. The Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) reserves five percent of its annual budget, to support innovative solutions that meet current capability goals or address emerging threats, as outlined in the 2020-2023 Strategic Plan. These funds support the identification, procurement, implementation, and evaluation of novel solutions through the MDERS Innovation Program.

Maryland-National Capital Region stakeholders are able to submit proposals to the Innovation Program to pilot and evaluate new technologies or other innovative solutions. These pilot programs are limited to a maximum cost of $20,000.00 and a period of performance of 180 days or fewer, as well as compliance with the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant requirements. All proposals for the programs are ultimately reviewed and approved by the MDERS Steering Committee prior to awarding any funds.
The initial year of the Innovation Program, FY20, made possible several enterprise-wide initiatives, including the following:

Situational Awareness Cameras for Law Enforcement Armored Vehicles

This initiative provides video cameras mounted to law enforcement armored vehicles that will live stream video footage to the incident command post. These cameras further enhance situational awareness and inform decision making by providing incident commanders with a real-time view of the incident.

PerSim Augmented Reality Patient Assessment Training System

The PerSim system provides a portable, interactive patient assessment training utilizing the Microsoft Hololens system. This system provides a realistic patient simulation, allowing the trainer to create realistic patient reactions to interventions in real time. The portability of the system provides personnel with the ability to be trained while remaining available for emergency responses.

Augment Training Systems (ATS) Virtual Reality Mass Casualty Triage Training System

The ATS training system provides a portable solution to mass casualty triage training, based on the Oculus virtual reality headset. This tool enables personnel to conduct training on mass casualty triage in any location. The system lets responders experience a large number of divers patients and a variety of scenarios without the use of traditional exercises.

Leader Search Bluetooth Listening Device

The Leader Bluetooth sensors provide structural collapse rescue teams with the ability to rapidly deploy sensors, with an increased range, to listen for trapped victims during a response. The system can be expanded across a wider search area using corded sensors for additional listening capability.

My Emergency Operations Plan (MyEOP) Application

The MyEOP application is a phone-based application designed for healthcare and other facilities to have electronic access to their emergency plans, procedures, and other information in-hand at all times.

For more information on the MDERS Innovation Program, please contact Mike Ryman at Michael.Ryman1@Maryland.Gov.

In June and September 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hosted its annual Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Symposium, a two-part event sponsored in partnership with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). Due to ongoing public health concerns, the FAA conducted the 2021 symposium in a fully virtual format, allowing attendees to access sessions at their convenience during, and after the conclusion of, the event.

The 2021 FAA UAS Symposium aimed to connect enterprise UAS operators, as well as commercial and recreational remote pilots, directly with the regulators who enable drone integration into the National Airspace System. The symposium provided attendees the opportunity to learn, train, and troubleshoot problems with other members of the UAS community to ensure their operations remain safe and continue to grow along with new regulations.

Within the Maryland-National Capital Region, Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties continue to make great strides in the development and implementation of their respective UAS programs. Currently, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and emergency management agencies in Montgomery County are crafting and implementing training programs to operationalize UAS into emergency response. In Prince George’s County, the police department leads the UAS program and is actively procuring UAS equipment while concurrently designing its training program. To facilitate this process for the counties, the Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) sponsored the attendance of nine personnel from both jurisdictions, as well as two MDERS staff members.

Attendees at this year’s symposium rated the event highly, stating that:

• “The FAA Symposium was a great event that allowed me to to learn more about safe operations without waivers under the new operating laws for UAS beyond visible line of sight. This will directly benefit operations within my jurisdiction.”
• “The FAA Symposium remains a very important event that allows attendees to hear directly from the FAA on new laws/regulations and what we should expect in the future.”

To learn more about the FAA UAS Symposium and view proceedings from past events, please visit the following link: https://www.auvsi.net/faa2021/proceedings.

In 2018, the Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System Steering Committee identified small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) as a funding priority for capability development. To achieve this capability for the public safety agencies in Montgomery County, Maryland, a workgroup was established consisting of representatives from the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD), Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS), and the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (OEMHS). This provided collaboration opportunities for policy development, equipment specification, and the coordination of future training.

MCPD was the first agency to work through internal processes to implement a policy and achieve the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) approval to purchase equipment: a required step for the purchase of any sUAS utilizing federal grant funds. Following approval of the policy, the department purchased various equipment and began its program.

The group continued to gain momentum in 2020, with MCFRS and OEMHS gaining FEMA approval. Both agencies then began the process of procuring equipment. All three agencies are actively crafting and implementing training programs to operationalize sUAS operations for emergency response throughout Montgomery County.

To add to the complexity of this project, a majority of Montgomery County falls within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ) around Washington, D.C. The public safety agencies within this zone must work with the FAA to obtain waivers that allow them to operate sUAS within this airspace. To date, MCPD has already received a waiver, leading the way for other agencies within their jurisdiction.

As of Spring 2021, all three agencies are now working with the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), a federal entity headquartered in Montgomery County. NIST personnel have been collaborating with public safety agencies nationwide to assist with training and mobilization of sUAS programs. Specifically, NIST provides a scalable, quantifiable framework for operator training, which the agencies are working to implement as part of their pilot training programs.

Large scale international and domestic events, both accidental and intentional, have resulted in mass casualty incidents (MCI). A mass casualty incident causes sufficient injuries to overwhelm response and healthcare resources. To prepare for these events, the Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) stakeholders endeavored to build MCI response capability and capacity, starting with field response by emergency medical services (EMS).

Leaders from the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) and the Prince George’s County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (PGFD) completed an MCI response needs assessment that identified several fire, rescue, and EMS gaps. The purpose of this needs assessment was to determine what resources are required to support a large EMS response in addition to the normal day-to-day incidents of the Maryland-National Capital Region. The assessment revealed that a plan to deploy additional EMS transport units to MCIs did not exist in either fire department.

To address this issue, EMS staff from each fire department, with MDERS assistance, formed a planning group and coordinated a series of meetings to identify a goal, develop objectives, and establish a plan of action. The goal was the safe, efficient, and effective deployment of additional EMS resources to respond to mass casualty incidents. The primary objective was the deployment of additional basic life support transport units to the scene or to backfill depleted resources within 180 minutes of notification of an MCI.

The planning team identified several key steps necessary to accomplish their goal, the first of which was to inventory supplies carried in the basic life support (BLS) transport unit (ambulance). Supplies are divided into two categories: soft supplies (e.g., bandages, other disposable items) and hard supplies (e.g., backboards, splints, other non-disposable items). Employing an inventory schedule is a critical component of sustainment and ensures supplies are utilized prior to expiration. The second step identified the need for a standardized storage methodology that would allow for the easy distribution of these resources to stock reserve ambulances when deployed into the field. The solution was a securable metal storage box on wheels that contained hard and soft supplies needed to respond to an emergency incident. In response to an MCI, the contents of this box could be placed on a reserve ambulance to transition it into a response asset.

The MDERS Steering Committee allocated funds to each agency through a scaled approach. Five kits were provided to each agency in the first phase, followed by an additional five kits in the second phase. This resulted in a total of ten BLS ambulance in a box kits for each agency. In the final phase, five kits in each county were equipped with additional supplies, such as cardiac monitors and advanced respiratory equipment to make them advanced life support (ALS) capable. These units are intended to treat the most severely injured and sick patients, who often require more invasive field treatment.

Although this capability has not yet been utilized for a mass casualty incident response, these boxes have been deployed in Montgomery and Prince George’s County to provide additional transport unit capacity during the most significant surges of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are also frequently deployed in Prince George’s County to provide dedicated ambulances for special events at FedEx Field. Using this equipment on a routine basis allows for providers to refine the process and develop proficiency so that the units are quickly deployed in the event of an MCI.

A fully stocked EMS in a Box Storage cabinet.

The National Capital Region (NCR) is comprised of the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and 24 county and local governments within that area. The area is home to over 5.5 million residents, and is the seat of the federal government, as well as countless private enterprises. The Region, is particularly susceptible to number of threats, including terrorism and high impact disasters. Countering these threats requires a high degree of coordination across the multiple disciplines, agencies, and jurisdictions across the NCR. The Emergency Response System programs of the NCR are one of many approaches to ensure successful regional coordination.

There are three Emergency Response System (ERS) organizations in the National Capital Region, with one in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and D.C. The purpose of the ERS programs is to provide a platform dedicated to building preparedness and response capabilities in a fashion that leverages other disciplines’ strengths and missions. The approach ensures maximum efficiency and effectiveness of multiple agencies and jurisdictions operating in concert. The participating agencies include a number of response partners, including law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services, public health, hospitals, and emergency management.

The programs are supported by Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. These funds provide full-time staff to support the planning and execution of emergency response capability development. The staff is comprised of subject matter experts in multiple aspects of emergency management, including discipline mission areas and tactics, capability realization, grants and financial management, training and exercise, and consensus leadership. The funding also supports training, exercises, equipment acquisition, and other expenses related to homeland security and emergency preparedness.

The NCR has been dedicated to regionalism since the late 1990s, with multiple cross-jurisdictional committees and organizations designed to address these complexities. The ERS programs bring together those various disciplines for a coordinated, comprehensive approach to emergency response. The programs are conducted at the subregional level (Maryland, Northern Virginia, and DC) to account for localized needs, threats, and constructs. The ERS programs coordinate with one another, as well as other NCR groups and governing bodies, to create region-wide capabilities to best protect the residents and visitors of the Greater Metropolitan Washington Area.

The Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS) was the first of its kind in the region. The organization started as a designated Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS), which was a grant program intended to build capabilities to respond to chemical, biological, radiological, and explosive events. In 2007, the program was rebranded as NVERS to focus on a more comprehensive set of emergency response capabilities. This expanded the multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional work that had begun through MMRS, and introduced new capability targets. At one point managed by the Northern Virginia Hospital Alliance, NVERS has since become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, allowing it greater flexibility to address the ever-evolving needs of public safety and homeland security.

The Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) has a history similar to that of NVERS. Both Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, which legally comprise the Maryland-National Capital Region, were jurisdictions that participated in the MMRS program. Both programs were organized through the respective county’s fire and rescue department, but engaged other disciplines to meet healthcare objectives. In pursuit of lofty response goals that would require the cooperation of multiple jurisdictions, the two MMRS programs began working together to achieve greater capacity. In 2014, it was decided that the two programs would be combined into a single entity with a broader mission area to address additional aspects of emergency response, under the MDERS title. The organization was structured based on the successful NVERS model, with adjustments to best meet the needs of the MDERS stakeholders. Additional disciplines and jurisdictions were incorporated into the effort, and the program continues to grow. MDERS provides full capability development that includes planning, organization, equipping, training, and exercising that spans all participating jurisdictions, disciplines, and agencies. Since its inception, owing to its roots in a medical mission area, the program has been administered by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS).

The District of Columbia Emergency Response System (DCERS) was established at the same time that MDERS was founded. Though DC is a single jurisdiction, by its nature it has intense complexity with multiple agencies at both the city and federal level having jurisdiction within the city limits. The work of DCERS began with a heavy emphasis on response, as with NVERS and MDERS. In time, the program shifted to a goal of creating a culture of preparedness, assuming mission areas beyond response. To better reflect its mission and scope, the program was rebranded the District Preparedness System (DPS). Like its counterparts in Northern Virginia and Maryland, DPS conducts assessments to identify strategic target capabilities and capacities, and coordinates across all pertinent disciplines to achieve their goals. The program is housed in, and administered by, the D.C. Homeland Security and Management Agency (DCHSEMA) who provide a direct corollary to broader homeland security missions.

Each ERS program is managed at the subregional level, driven by the strategic vision and direction of local emergency response agency leaders. The programs are a portion of the broader approach of the NCR Homeland Security Executive Committee (HSEC), which oversees preparedness and response in the region. The efforts performed by the ERS programs, while managed locally, are informed by the regional goals of the HSEC. In furtherance of that intent, the ERS programs work closely with one another to ensure comprehensive coordination through the region. This includes leveraging resources, assuming combined efforts, and planning together to meet the homeland security and public safety needs as defined by the HSEC. Together with other regional bodies, the ERS programs contribute to the advanced state of readiness, unique capabilities, and enhanced capacity, all of which provide superior service and protection to the area’s residents and visitors.

Immediately following the September 11^th attacks in 2001, the Freedom Corps was established in efforts to help Americans find volunteer opportunities and strengthen the nations culture of service. Shortly after the establishment of the Freedom Corps, an extension to this program, known as the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), was created. Today, the Medical Reserve Corp (MRC) is sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and housed within the Department of Health and Human Services. This federal structure supports the implementation of MRC units throughout the nation at the local government level.

The Medical Reserve Corps a national network of community-based volunteers who assist their communities in activities related to public health emergency response. The MRC is not limited to strictly medically trained volunteers; non-medical professionals are also utilized for the unique skills they bring to their communities.

In Maryland, the MRC is known as Maryland Responds. With 24 local MRC units housed within the Local Health Departments, the State of Maryland has over 22,000 volunteers registered. To screen interested individuals, each volunteer must complete all the steps required in the “Road to Readiness (R2R)” program to be eligible for deployment. The R2R program is a series of five steps created to ensure all volunteers are trained in the basic functions of the Maryland Responds program, and, once completed, provides participants with state liability protection coverage during deployments.

Throughout the country, MRC volunteers most recently have been utilized for COVID-19 pandemic response. MRC volunteers can meet the growing demand for extra medical and administrative services needed throughout this pandemic. In Montgomery County, volunteers have assisted the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in the following ways:

• COVID-19 Testing Sites: Specimen collection and administrative site support
• Vaccination Clinics: Medical vaccinators and non-medical site flow support, registration, and vaccination documentation
• Call Center: Staffing for the COVID-19 Call Center to answer community and medical provider questions
• Health Department Operations Center (HDOC): Supplemental staffing for the HDOC
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Distribution: Supplying community partners and county residents with proper PPE
• Food Security Task Force: Providing food distribution sites for individuals impacted by the economic impacts of COVID-19

With almost 1,900 volunteers county-wide, the Montgomery County team has logged over 25,000 volunteer hours since the beginning of the COVID-19 response.

Jessica Pryor is the MRC Coordinator for Montgomery County. “The volunteers in the Maryland Responds Medical Reserve Corps have been a significant resource to the COVID-19 response,” Pryor stated. “They allow us to have staffing resources and flexibility to quickly respond to the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the volunteers have provided us with the staff to open call centers and new testing sites or vaccination sites within only serval hours’ notice. The volunteers also help to provide ongoing support to operations and help us to meet the needs of Montgomery County residents during the COVID-19 response.”

For more information on how to become a Maryland Responds volunteer, please use the following link:

• https://mdresponds.health.maryland.gov/