Metropolitan
Medical Response System
In
September 2000, the City of Rochester
Fire Department entered into a contract
with the Federal Department of Health
and Human Services to develop a
Metropolitan Medical Response System
(MMRS). Introduced in 1997, MMRS
is an enhancement of local health
systems specifically addressing
mass casualty incidents resulting
from the terrorist release of nuclear,
biological, chemical or explosive
weapons of mass destruction/disruption.
The Rochester MMRS development is
a cooperative effort involving City
and County agencies and is, wherever
possible, utilizing existing Comprehensive
Emergency Preparedness Plans and
annexes to create the required deliverable
components. Rochester is one of
122 cities in the United States
participating in this program. This
brief reflects activities during
RFD’s second year of the MMRS Program.
Exercises
The
Rochester MMRS Development Team
attended, assisted developing and/or
participated in several exercises
during the calendar year 2002:
- 02/02: Bio-terrorism Tabletop
Exercise (DOJ)
- 03/02: National Pharmaceutical
Stockpile Tabletop Exercise (Phase
III)
- 05/02: Rochester General Hospital
Chemical Incident Exercise
- 08/02: National Pharmaceutical
Stockpile Functional Exercise
- 09/02: Chemical Weapons Full-Scale
Exercise (DOJ)
Equipment Research &
Acquisitions
The Rochester MMRS Development Team
met with representatives from several
companies to research equipment
to be acquired to enhance the ability
of Rochester/Monroe County Emergency
Services to respond to a terrorist
incident involving weapons of mass
destruction/disruption. In general,
reviewed equipment fell under the
categories of Personal Protective
Equipment, Detection and Monitoring,
Decontamination and Patient Treatment,
Tracking and Transport. Some of
the companies include:
- TVI Corporation (Rigid Frame Decontamination
Shelters)
- Vector Command (Incident Command
Training Software)
- EIRTECH/Foxboro (Detection &
Monitoring Equipment)
- Kappler/Dupont (Chemical Protective
Clothing/PPE, Detection & Monitoring)
- Dival Safety Equipment
- SensIR (Detection & Monitoring)
- EIRTECH Instruments (Detection
& Monitoring)
- WeatherPak (Portable Weather Station/Detection
& Monitoring)
Initiatives 2002
- MMRS deliverable 7 & 8 (combined
and submitted as the Rochester MMRS
Public Health Emergencies Operations
Plan)
- Distributed $5,000 to each City
of Rochester/Monroe County Hospital
for training and/ or acquisition
of decontamination, detection &
monitoring and/or personal protective
equipment consistent with mission
of MMRS ($30,000 total).
- Rochester MMRS has assisted in
development of decontamination capability
at all Rochester/Monroe County Hospitals.
