NPS Morning Report - Friday, March 22, 2002



                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, March 22, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-062 - San Francisco Maritime NHP (CA) - Follow-up: Major Structural Fire

Work continues on stabilization of the Haslett Warehouse and restoration of
access to the Fisherman's Wharf area following last weekend's five-alarm
fire. Golden Gate NRA's incident management team has been coordinating
efforts to secure the area and to reopen roads and businesses to both
pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The team PIOs fielded more than 30 media
contacts and interviews during three days of major media coverage.
Operations staff have proven instrumental in expediting approval of traffic
and safety plans by San Francisco's building and traffic departments. The
region's structural fire management officer worked closely with contractors
and San Francisco FD inspectors on the investigation into the cause of the
blaze, which has yet to be determined. San Francisco Maritime staff
augmented the IMT, providing safety oversight and other critical logistical
functions. As of the evening of Thursday, March 21st, main pedestrian
arteries had been reopened and vehicle traffic restored to some sections of
the heavily-visited tourist area of San Francisco. The Haslett Warehouse,
built in 1907 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places, has
been under National Park Service ownership since 1975. The building is
being converted into a boutique hotel that will feature a new visitor
center for San Francisco Maritime NHP. [Don Mannel, IC, IMT, 3/21]

02-068 - Harpers Ferry Center (WV) - Death of Employee Spouse

P.B., wife of E.E., the center's technical director for
audio-visual arts, died early on the morning of Wednesday, March 20th,
after a long struggle with cancer. If you would like more information
regarding condolences, please contact the AV department at 304-535-6081.
[Delia Garza, HFC, 3/21]

02-069 - Indiana Dunes NL (IN) - Resource Damage

R.L., 23, of Palatine, Illinois, was issued a mandatory court
appearance citation last November 3rd by ranger Bill Tadych for off-road
vehicle use in the West Beach area that caused considerable resource
damage. R.L. and his brother had driven off-road over several acres; since
most plants were in their dormant state, however, the long-term damage was
minimal. Resource management staff worked up a damage assessment and placed
the cost of restoration at $480. On March 15th, R.L. appeared in
magistrate's court and agreed to immediately pay the restitution to the
park. He also volunteered an additional $100 donation, which was accepted.
The citation was dismissed. The $480 will go into the park's resource
restoration account, and the $100 will go into a general donation account.
[J.D. Swed, CR, INDU, 3/20]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Law Enforcement Task Force Update - The National Park Service's law
enforcement task force held its second meeting on law enforcement issues on
March 4th and 5th. Members of the task force believe that rangers must
continue to be multi-task specialists, and that both NPS rangers and Park
Police officers must be equipped with the knowledge, tools, and resources
necessary to jointly support the Service's mission. The task force has
accordingly developed the following mission statement for the NPS law
enforcement program: "In support of the National Park Service mission, law
enforcement serves the public interest to protect resources and people,
prevent crime, conduct investigations, apprehend criminals, and serve the
needs of the visitors." Task force members have reviewed six major reports
on NPS law enforcement and applied their own extensive experience in
conducting a comprehensive Servicewide review of the agency's law
enforcement program. A number of essential actions have been identified in
four critical task areas that need to be undertaken within three to six
months. These critical task areas are as follows and will be submitted to
the director for approval:

•     Develop a new associate director position for protection and
emergency services to address a number of organizational and
      accountability concerns.
•     Validate and implement the visitor management resource protection
assessment program. Develop a marketing strategy for
      OMB, DOI and Congress to communicate agency needs that is consistent
with existing equipment and training needs
      assessments.
•     Address workforce and workplace issues.
•     Continue to professionalize the resource-based work force as outlined
in "The Ranger of the Future" (1993) and "Ranger
      Careers" (1994) through full implementation of Special Directive
94-3.

Action in these four critical task areas will allow us to address a number
of immediate concerns and build a foundation to address additional
long-term needs. In addition to these four critical areas, members of the
task force have also addressed more than 100 individual action items. Some
of these have been completed; others will be completed within the next six
months. [Brian Sweatland, Chairman]

New Incident Reporting and Data Management System Development - TRW Systems
and Information Technology Group has been awarded a contract to locate a
replacement for CIRS, the current case incident reporting system. Earlier
this month, TRW began an incident reporting needs assessment and is
soliciting comments from throughout the NPS. The survey form can be found
at http://www.nps.gov/riskmgmt (it's in red at the bottom left). If you are
interested in commenting, please fill out the survey form and submit it by
March 27th at the very latest. Completed surveys should be sent to either
of the two following email addresses: Stephen.Driskell@trw.com, or
John.Tomashosky@trw.com . If you have questions, you can contact Stephen
Driskell at 720-963-6932; John Tomashosky is at 720-963-6906. Once survey
results are completed, TRW will search for and evaluate existing software
systems that meet the needs identified by respondents. They will then
prepare a final report with recommendations which will be presented to the
incident reporting steering committee, to be delivered on or before August
1st. Within 30 days thereafter, the committee will convene to make the
final selection. Representatives from all program areas desiring to capture
incident data are members of the steering committee. If you have any
questions, contact Dick Powell at 202-208-6350. [Dick Powell, RMD/WASO]

Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) - Earlier this month, a VA
employee suffered a fatal cardiac arrest in Seattle in the same building
utilized by regional NPS staff. It's not known whether his life could have
been saved with an AED or not, but the fact is that none was available - an
entirely common story at federal work sites. Cardiac arrest causes between
300,000 and 400,000 deaths per year in the United States. In 1999 and 2000,
815 (13%) of workplace fatalities reported by OSHA were due to sudden
cardiac arrest. Survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are very
low, running between one and five percent. Cardiac arrest is most often
caused by chaotic beating of the heart (ventricular fibrillation), which
can be restored to a normal rhythm if treated early with electric shock
(defibrillation). Treatment of witnessed ventricular fibrillation can
result in greater than 90% survival. With each minute of delay in
defibrillation, nearly 10% fewer victims survive; at 10 minutes, survival
is therefore unlikely. In June, 1999, Chicago's O'Hare Airport installed
AEDs so that staff could respond to cardiac arrests within a minute. During
the first ten months, 14 cardiac arrests occurred and nine of the victims
(64%) survived. Managers housed in the Seattle office are attempting to
pull the other resident bureaus together to come up with a plan to purchase
and place AEDs and determine who should be trained in their use. This type
of analysis and implementation plan for placing AEDs in federal buildings
and then training adequate personnel to use them is a requirement of the
Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (CASA) and the ensuing guidelines published by
the Department of Health and Human Services and GSA on May 23, 2001. Many
NPS areas have already responded to this call, and there are now 348 AEDs
in place Servicewide. Does your park or office have any? Hundreds of
employees have also been trained to use them, and several lives have been
saved as a direct result of these actions. Although the NPS has accordingly
become a leader in this program within the federal government, many parks
and regions still do not have AEDs on board. WASO is currently looking into
purchasing a large volume of AEDs  at a considerable discount ($450 to $500
below the GSA list price, with shipping prepaid by the company). In order
to take advantage of this opportunity and have the AEDs shipped and
available by summer,  Ranger Activities will accept orders through April
26th. In order to obtain AEDs, please send along information on the number
of units needed, your shipping address, an account number, and a contact
person. Once the order is received by the company, the units will be
shipped directly to the NPS area, receivable in approximately 15 days or
less. Send the information to Randy Coffman (Randy_Coffman@nps.gov). Parks
and offices needing help in determining how many AEDs they need can contact
Randy for information on how to make that calculation. [Randy Coffman,
RAD/WASO]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Delaware Water Gap NRA (NJ/PA) - The park has posted an announcement
(DEWA-02-03) for a GS-12/13 chief ranger. It opened on March 7th and closes
on April 1st. The person selected will be responsible for park policy
development and program direction in a wide range of programs and
activities related to protection of park resources and management of
visitors, including wildlife, vegetation, and water protection, fire
management, backcountry management, LE, SAR, structural fire, public health
and safety, concessions, and fee collection. The chief ranger supervises
three district rangers, a criminal investigator, an FMO, a
telecommunications manager, and an administrative technician. A copy of the
announcement is on USA Jobs
(http://jsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/summary.asp?OPMControl=IB6179). For more
info on the position, contact Doyle Nelson, deputy superintendent, at
570-588-2418. [Diane Kimsey, DEWA]

Chickasaw NRA (OK) - The park recently announced a GS-9 protection ranger
position on USA Jobs. It closes on April 3rd. A Level I commission is
required. The park has a progressive protection program, and the person
chosen will be able to gain training and experience in LE operations,
natural and cultural resource protection, boating, horse patrol, wildland
firefighting, SCUBA operations, criminal investigation, EMS and more. The
person in the position serves as the DARE instructor for local communities.
The park is in south central Oklahoma and hosts a million-and-a-half
visitors annually. Fore more information, contact district ranger Ed
Cummins or chief ranger Mark Foust at 580-622-3167. [Mark Foust, CHIC]

                               *  *  *  *  *

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation
and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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