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Welcome to the Bay Area SUASI Dispatch
A Message from the SUASI General Manager
by Richard Shortall
Welcome to the Bay Area SUASI Dispatch, the monthly electronic newsletter of the Bay Area Super Urban Area Security Initiative (SUASI). The newsletter complements our website, www.bayareasuasi.org, as an additional information and outreach tool to support our mission: to enhance regional capability through regional collaboration. It enables us to link you directly to the website for agendas, minutes and workgroup documents; keep you informed of SUASI milestones; share project findings as they become available; increase the level of participation in SUASI workgroups; and spotlight program successes.
Project updates and findings are a regular feature. Also, I use this space each month to report to you on the state of the Bay Area SUASI. In addition to keeping you informed through this e-newsletter, I want to encourage all of you with a role in emergency planning or response to become active in the work of the program. Learn how and why in the article in this issue entitled Get Involved. We hope that you enjoy the Bay Area SUASI Dispatch and share it with your colleagues. Feel free to forward this issue using the Tell A Friend link at the bottom of this page.
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Bay Area SUASI Program Overview
Bay Area SUASI: Enhancing Regional Capability through Regional Collaboration
The Bay Area SUASI was created in January of 2006, when the federal government consolidated the urban areas of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose, along with 10 counties. The Bay Area SUASI also includes representatives from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Within its jurisdiction are 7 million people and over 100 incorporated cities. San Francisco has the 4 th highest population in the entire nation, and the Bay Area region attracts millions of visitors each year. Some of the nation’s most notable landmarks are located in the Bay Area, as well as three international airports, six professional sports teams, and the fourth busiest port in the country. In 2006, the Bay Area SUASI was awarded more than $22 million to help develop, expand and enhance regional planning efforts, information sharing and collaboration, CBRNE Detection and Response, Training and Exer  cise, Infrastructure Protection, Interoperable Communications, Medical Surge, Mass Prophylaxis, Public Information & Warning, Mass Care, Citizen Preparedness and Participation, and Emergency Management. These projects must be completed by December 31, 2007. The Bay Area SUASI is widely viewed as having an important, groundbreaking regional approach that is recognized and may be replicated throughout the state and across the country. The Bay Area SUASI:
- Enhances regional capability through regional collaboration.
- Targets funding to build core capabilities to prevent, respond, and recover from disaster.
- Directs funding to projects and work products that have regional impact as well as wide application among individual Bay Area communities.
- Responsibly leverages and manages grant funds to achieve the optimal result with the dollars available.
- Researches, learns from, and shares what works well and what does not to inform program/product development.
- Through strategic, well thought through, multi-year program plans, builds on work that started with the Regional Emergency Coordination Plan; continues this year with program assessments, plans, toolkits, guidebooks and training; and will advance in 2008 and beyond to bring about greater implementation and training.
Click the full story link below to read more about the Bay Area SUASI Program.
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Bay Area SUASI Project Overview
Provided in this issue is a description of the 2006 grant-funded Bay Area SUASI projects now underway. In subsequent issues, we will offer a status update on the activities associated with each project and alert you to available findings and work products.
Regional Planning
Eleven regional planners were hired through this initiative to support the ten Bay Area Counties and Coastal OES to participate in regional planning. Funds also were provided to each of the three major SUASI cities to update their plans and work toward consistency with the National Response Plan. This initiative also provides project management support and information dissemination, such as the website and this e-newsletter.
Interoperable Communications
Initiatives in this area include conducting a needs assessment and developing a five-year strategic plan based upon the results, and the completion of $6 million in infrastructure improvements. The construction and implementation of robust interoperable communication systems and the building and development of infrastructure and technology will strengthen the ability of responders in different agencies and jurisdictions to communicate with each other during a catastrophic event.
Click the full story link to learn about the other Bay Area SUASI projects.
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Meet the Bay Area SUASI Management Team
Managing the work of the Bay Area SUASI is a dedicated and highly skilled Management Team comprised of a general manager, five project managers and a finance manager.
To read a description of each member of the team's responsibilities and their experience, click the full story link below.
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Get Involved
The benefits of participation in the work of the Bay Area SUASI are tangible. Get involved to: Influence decisions about how Homeland Security funds will be spent in the Bay Area. Through participation in SUASI workgroups, you have a voice in the development of scopes of work that go into our grant application each funding cycle and a say in how the awarded grant funds are allocated. Access resources and work products that enhance your jurisdiction’s level of preparedness. The work products of the Bay Area SUASI not only enhance regional capability, they also have widespread application to individual agencies and programs in Bay Area communities. Your involvement gives you direct access to the resources and products that result from SUASI projects that you can tailor for use in your own jurisdiction. Build solid working relationships with the network of responders with whom you will work during a catastrophic event. Participation in SUASI workgroups provides an opportunity to broaden and deepen relationships you can call on in your everyday work and during an emergency.  Contact the SUASI regional planner in your jurisdiction to get involved in the work of the Bay Area SUASI. Links to the planners are available by clicking on the full story link below.
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