Operation Description
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Partners | Facility
Description
About Us
The
Community Training and Response Center is a 10,775 square foot
addition on the north campus of Kirkwood Community College in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The mission of the Center is to draw upon
the unique strengths of the organizations it houses to prepare
communities across this country for skilled response to emergency
situations.
Kirkwood is strategically located in the heart
of Midwest production, surrounded by major Fortune 500 companies
like ADM, Cargill, General Mills, and Quaker Oats. It is located
within four hours of every major metropolitan area in the Midwest,
within one mile of Interstate 380, and three miles of the Eastern
Iowa Airport. The Duane-Arnold Nuclear Energy Center, Iowa's only
nuclear-power generation facility, resides eleven miles to the
northwest.
To prepare and train communities to be skilled
in response to emergencies, the Center leverages the resources
of six college and community operations that have similar missions.
In the Center, they will share common resources including facilities
and equipment. The six operations provide a comprehensive approach
for preparing, training, assessing, and tracking a local community's
ability to plan, prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover
from emergency situations. In the time of an emergency, the
Center draws upon other college capacities including its satellite
uplink, fiber optic and microwave communications networks, computer
labs, food service, gym, and childcare center plus many technology
programs and laboratories. The six critical operations include:
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Agroterrorism
Preparedness Center for First Responders delivers scenario-based
agroterrorism prevention, deterrence, response and recovery
courses, and support to the nation's first responders.
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The Environmental Training Center provides environmental training
and education in the areas of municipal water and wastewater
treatment, solid waste management, and fire safety for public
sector operators and responders.
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The Hazardous Materials Training and Research Institute provides
training in hazardous materials handling, industrial health
and safety, and industrial fire and rescue response for a national
audience of trainers, industrial workers, and responders.
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The Linn County Emergency Management Agency provides a systematic
approach to the coordination of emergency response in Linn County
as well as supporting surrounding counties on an as-needed basis.
It models the best in community response capability.
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The Midwest OSHA Education Center provides occupational safety
and health training for area business and industry, including
hazmat, egress, industrial and construction safety training.
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The National Mass Fatalities Institute provides training and
support to individuals, communities, businesses, industries,
and agencies across the nation and around the world on the proper
management of a disaster involving mass fatalities.
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OPERATION DESCRIPTION
Agroterrorism Preparedness Center for First Responders delivers
scenario-based agroterrorism prevention, deterrence, response and
recovery courses, and support to the nation's first responders and
their training officers using the instructional capability of:
- The 100-member
Community College Consortium for Health and Safety Training (CCCHST),
funded by NIEHS since 1992 to deliver hazardous materials training;
- The AgrowKnowledge
Center, funded since 2001 to support the nation's agriculture
technology instructors; and
- A national
clearinghouse of accessible databases of relevant just-in-time
information. Curriculum developed and used by the Center will
be Department of Homeland Security approved and available electronically
to all responders.
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CTRP
Partners
Kirkwood's Environmental Training Center promotes the maintenance
of a clean and safe environment through education and training
in the areas of municipal water supply, treatment storage and
distribution; wastewater collection and treatment; solid waste
management; and fire safety for public sector operators and responders.
Last year over 3,300 individuals participated in ETC programs.
In 1975, Kirkwood received a Clean Water Act appropriation to
help fund building a wastewater training facility to serve the
state of Iowa. The Center was opened in 1976 as the first EPA-funded
wastewater-training center in the nation. In 1980, and again in
1990, additions that nearly doubled the size of the facility were
added. The 10,500 square foot center contains two general purpose
classrooms with seating capacity for 40 and 16 respectively; an
analytical lab with 24 work stations; a chemical prep room; an
instrument room; offices for 16 staff members; a maintenance lab
with 30 work stations; a tool room; and a pilot scale 15,000 gallon-per-day
wastewater treatment plant.
The Hazardous Materials Training and Research Institute (HMTRI)
was established in 1987 by two Iowa community colleges that
have long been active in environmental health and safety education
and training. The purpose of the Institute is to promote worker
protection and the maintenance of a clean and safe environment
through education and training. Sponsor colleges are the Eastern
Iowa Community College District, headquartered in Davenport, Iowa,
and Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. To deliver
state-of-the-art curriculum and staff development programs, HMTRI
maintains one of the largest and strongest environmental, health
and safety programs in the nation offering open-enrollment courses
on its campuses and contracting with business and industry to
deliver customized worker training on-site. HMTRI delivered courses
to over 3,500 students and instructors in the past year. Over
80 colleges and organizations purchase or license the use of texts
and learning resources from HMTRI on a regular basis. HMTRI sponsors
a national consortium of colleges and universities funded by the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) that
has trained over 100,000 students since 1987.
The Linn County Emergency Management Agency (EALA) is responsible
for coordinating the comprehensive Emergency Management program
for all residents and communities in Linn County, Iowa, to include
preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation activities. The
EMA operates under the multi-hazard approach to emergency management
operations that addresses all risks that threaten the health,
safety, and welfare of the community to include natural disasters,
man-made or technological incidents, and civil actions. The EMA
is a geographic county-wide agency that reports to the Linn County
Emergency Management Commission. The Commission consists of the
Mayor of each jurisdiction, the Sheriff, and a member of the Board
of Supervisors. The Linn County Emergency Management Commission
has 20 voting members. The EMA directs community response to incidents
involving the Duane Arnold Energy Center near Palo, Iowa's only
nuclear-powered electric generation facility.
The Midwest OSHA Education Center (MOEC) offers OSHA Training
Institute (OTI) courses in Hazardous Materials; Respiratory Protection;
Permit-Required Confined Space Entry; Excavation, Trenching and
Soil Mechanics; Trainer Course in Occupational Safety and Health
Standards for the Construction Industry; Trainer Course in Occupational
Safety and Health Standards for General Industry; Updates for
Construction Industry Trainers, and Updates for General Industry
Trainers. MOEC serves OSHA's four-state Region VII and is one
of 28 OTI Education Outreach Centers in the nation. MOEC partners
are Kirkwood, St. Louis University, and the Omaha Safety Council.
Kirkwood's National Mass Fatalities Institute (NMFI) was
founded in 2000 with a congressional grant administered through
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its mission is
to prepare communities for the effective management of mass fatalities
events. Efforts of the Institute are focused on providing guidance
and training for the development of comprehensive mass fatalities
incident response plans. These plans must promote multi-disciplinary,
multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional response efforts that are
thoroughly integrated at all levels of government. It is the goal
of the National Mass Fatalities Institute to assist community
leaders, through the collaborative planning process, to assess,
establish, and maintain integrated community resources that will
facilitate recovery and healing following a mass fatalities event.
These five organizations have similar missions
that naturally complement each other. Their personnel have similar
skills that can support the mission of all five organizations
in a time of need. Each organization is a "best practices"
showcase. Co-locating the operations maximizes the best qualities
of each, while efficiently using taxpayer's money. The organizations
will provide a synergy of time, talent, and resources for the
betterment of the local community and the nation.
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FACILITY DESCRIPTION
The Community Training and Response Center addition to Kirkwood's
present Environmental Training Center (ETC) is a 10,775 square foot,
state-of-the-art facility that will draw visitors from all over
the world to attend classes, seminars and training opportunities,
and to view the operations of a model community training and response
center.
The facility includes office space, two general-purpose
classrooms, a joint 80-seat emergency operations center, a computer
classroom, and conference rooms. The security station and restroom
facilities supports all users of the center.
The Emergency Operations Command Center functions
as a multimedia auditorium designed for education and training
functions for classes of up to 80 students. It is equipped for
computer-assisted training and education, Iowa Communications
Network (ICN) activity, the ability to receive and originate both
satellite broadcasts and web-based broadcasts. It is equipped
with four large projection screens capable of displaying video,
computer data, transparencies and PowerPoint slides. Two central
podiums control lighting, the four projection screens, and audio
for the auditorium, basic ICN network functions and Internet connectivity.
When the auditorium is functioning as an Emergency
Operations Center (EOC), student desks become workstations for
up to 80 officials. A communications center, command conference
room, a 25-person computer lab security /reception access control
point, and a word processing/ duplication area support the command
center. Adjacent to the command center is a large multifunction
room that can be divided to provide dining, rest and work space
for operations center personnel.
Each of the workstations has a laptop computer,
direct phone line, power outlets for computer and desktop light,
computer network connections to a dedicated server, and a microphone
connected to the ICN and to the audio system. The server is connected
to printers, plotters, and Internet resources. Each workstation
computer is able to transmit data to a projector for display on
one of the large projection screens at the front of the room.
Two multi-purpose rooms function as large individual
classrooms for classes of up to 35 students at tables. The two
rooms can be joined providing seating for up to 80 individuals.
With tables stored, the rooms can be used for hands-on demonstrations
for water, wastewater, health and safety, hazardous materials,
and mass fatalities classes. In support of the emergency operations
center, the rooms can be used to serve meals and to provide space
for cots for worker rest periods. Two conference rooms are located
in the facility both equipped for video and audio conferencing
through the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) and through phone
and Internet-based services. The computer lab supports 25 individuals working
at computer stations. This room is located next to the emergency
operations center and can provide workspace for FEMA and/or state
of Iowa emergency management staff needing to be close to but
separate from the emergency operations center.
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