What is CAER?
Shell Puget Sound Refinery has been associated with March's Point Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) since 1985, and is one of the founding members of the organization. Since the inception of March's Point CAER, Shell and the organization have been actively working to improve communication between the community and industry.
CAER's industrial members are Shell, Tesoro and General Chemical.
The agency/community members of CAER are the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), Summit Park Fire Department, Anacortes Fire Department, Swinomish Police Department, Anacortes Red Cross and Island Hospital.
CAER is dedicated to providing residents and local emergency responders with additional information about industries on March's Point.
What was accomplished in 2006?
CAER meets on a bi-monthly basis to review its annual objectives and address any issues that may arise during the year. During 2006, CAER successfully completed its objectives; several of CAER's accomplishments are described below:
- CAER welcomed the Swinomish Police Department as a new member. Their representative to CAER is Brian Geer. Brian is excited to become involved in CAER activities, and play an active roll in CAER's future.
- Chief Curtis of the Anacortes Fire Department made a presentation to the County Commissioners describing CAER, its mission and community involvement. The presentation was well received by the Commissioners; they thanked CAER for its service to Skagit County.
- CAER mailed a flyer to residents in the five zones of the Community Alert Network (CAN) to remind them of the purpose and importance of the emergency telephone notification system, and request unlisted telephone numbers for inclusion in the notification database. Over 13,000 fliers were mailed to the community.
- Working through issues identified in drills and other CAER activities, CAER developed an "Incident Communication Procedure," which identifies the radio frequencies that are to be used during an incident, and the protocols for using them. A "CAER Channel" was implemented that allows industry on March's Point to speak to one another in an incident. During the early minutes of incident, the CAER Channel frequency can be networked with the Department of Emergency Management frequency to allow emergency responders to speak directly to industries. This allows the DEM to obtain important approach and staging information.
- The CAER drill was conducted at Puget Sound Refinery in October of 2006, and included five scenarios, 147 participants and 25 pieces of equipment. The drill was a fast-paced exercise that stretched everyone's capabilities, and provided valuable information regarding response capabilities and opportunities for improvement.
- The CAER Manual, which is Puget Sound Refinery's emergency response plan for the EPA's Risk Management Program (RMP), was revised to include updated information and the new "Incident Communications Procedure".
If you would like to know more about CAER, you can view the CAER website at www.caer-mp.org, or e-mail CAER at info@caer-mp.org.
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