Emergency Response by the Numbers

Have you been wondering what City staff are doing during the emergency? Much of the response is done by staff busily working behind the scenes, so we’ve pulled together information to help tell their story.

The week of April 20 marks the 8th week of the City’s response to the pandemic. The City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was opened on March 5 and has been activated at Level 1 (full activation) since March 25.

Staff, 37 to be exact, are filling numerous unique and specific roles within the EOC organizational structure. As of April 21, those staff have worked approximately 3,798 hours since full activation. Staff from every department have been incorporated into the EOC structure and are working remotely to assist with the response, including:

So, what are staff doing? During an emergency, staff are typically deployed in one of three sections – operations, planning, and logistics.

Operations section staff are the “boots on the ground" and include first responders. Planning section staff are responsible for developing short- and long-term plans for all aspects of the response while the logistics team provides all necessary support not only to our boots on the ground but to the entire response.

Here’s a peek into what some of the EOC team have been doing:

• Policy team reviews City policies related to emergency response (ex. B&O tax relief).
• Planning staff develop short- and long-term plans for emergency response. They are also responsible for producing Situation Reports.
• The timekeeper reviews and reconciles response-related forms and timecards.
• Supply Unit staff procures and tracks supplies (PPE, hand sanitizer, disinfectant and cleaners, contracts with cleaning companies, etc.).
• Facilities Unit staff manages facilities, ensuring a safe and disinfected work environment for police and other staff.
• Finance Unit staff track expenses and overall finances for the emergency.
• Service Branch staff provide personnel, IT, and HR support. An important part of the response has been ensuring staff have the ability to work remotely so emergency response, and other essential City functions, could be managed from home. This has required a tremendous amount of time from the City's IT department. Other teams have also been involved in this process, ensuring invoices, payments, contracts, timecards, etc. can be processed electronically. Staff have also worked to ensure continuity of Council meetings through new videoconferencing technology - this has also required hours of testing and training.
• Call center staff respond to calls from the community, seven days a week. The call center is managed by 6 staff who answer phone calls and 1 staff member who responds to emails. Staff have answered over 622 calls and responded to over 85 emails. Almost all inquiries receive same-day responses. Most phone inquiries are answered immediately, emails tend to be more complex and may take several hours. At its highest point, the Call Center had 9 staff members responding to calls and emails.

This certainly isn't representative of all of the staff and work involved in the response, but hopefully it helps provide a better picture.

During this emergency, information has proven to be a commodity as important as toilet paper. A communications team has been working around-the-clock since the first cases were announced in late February. As of April 21, they have:

• Issued 31 press releases.
• Published 24 MI-Weekly E-Newsletter articles.
• Shared over 268 social media posts across Facebook, Twitter, and NextDoor.
• Produced six live video briefings that have been viewed over 2,703 times on the City’s YouTube Channel alone. (Data not available from Comcast.) Approximately 40-150 live event viewers are tuning in on YouTube to each briefing.
• Developed 3, interconnected Let’s Talk pages to share the latest information, resources, and ways residents can help. These pages have been visited 6,500 times.
• Uploaded 107 documents, prompting over 1,000 downloads.
• Published 61 articles (and counting) featuring information ranging from:
  • Important information and messages from King County and the State
  • Resources for seniors
  • CARES Act information for local businesses
  • Available Emergency Assistance programs
  • Connecting residents with ways to help
  • How to make face coverings
  • And even how to have fun at home

The City team has tirelessly responded to this unprecedented event and will continue to do everything it can to ensure the health and safety of the Mercer Island community. Click here for more information about the City's Pandemic Plan and here for information about the Mercer Island Emergency Management Department. Click here to view the City’s COVID-19 Response EOC organizational structure.

*These are initial, approximate numbers. The City continues to track the entire emergency response.