ICF wins disaster preparedness work

ICF International Inc. has won three nine-month contracts from the San Francisco Office of Emergency Management to help improve response in the Bay Area region to disasters and emergency situations.

ICF Consulting Services LLC will support the efforts of a consortium of 10 counties in creating a comprehensive approach to disaster preparedness. The initiative is known as the San Francisco Bay Area Super Urban Area Security Initiative program. The contracts have a combined worth of $1.6 million.

Various agencies from the counties will participate in the initiative, such as emergency management and medical services, law enforcement and public health to name a few.

The consulting engagements address regional needs and follow the parameters for urban security initiatives established by the federal government.

The company will:

• Assess public education campaigns to identify and replicate best practices for preparing citizens to cope with disasters and emergency situations;
  
• Complete a comprehensive assessment of traditional and nontraditional health care providers within the Bay Area to evaluate the effectiveness of the medical response to a disaster; and
  
• Conduct a broad assessment of the current models for mass prophylaxis within the Bay Area and develop guidance identifying the various approaches to mass dispensing and mass immunization.