Every day, as many as 4,000 Johns Hopkins employees commute by subway to and from the East Baltimore campus. Their safety and that of subway passengers nationwide depends on mass transit systems that are prepared to respond to a variety of threats, including the release of dangerous chemicals.
Making mass transit safer is the purpose behind the Sensor Nodes Inform and Facilitate Fast Emergency Response (SNIFFER) chemical detection system. As part of a chemical defense demonstration project, SNIFFER was installed last year in the Johns Hopkins subway. One of three in the United States, the pilot grew out of a partnership with the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), Baltimore City and the Office of Health Affairs’ Chemical Defense Program within the Department of Homeland
Security.
In January, the Johns Hopkins Office of Emergency Management (OEM) will present panel discussions on the chemical detector system and subway safety targeted to employees who are MTA passengers, although others may also attend. Representatives from security, safety, facilities, the adult Emergency Department and OEM will discuss the chemical detector and answer questions. The sessions will be taped and available in the OEM film library (tinyurl.com/jhhoem) for those who can’t attend.\
“Keeping our medical staff, employees and students advised on how they should respond to protect themselves, especially for those spontaneous occurring disasters, like exposures to harmful chemicals, is one of the major priorities for the Office of Emergency Management,” says Howard Gwon, senior director of emergency management for Johns Hopkins Medicine.
It’s important not only for subway riders, but all Johns Hopkins personnel and students to be aware of the chemical detection system and know how to respond should the chemical detector sound an alarm, Gwon says. A code yellow chemical will go out to the East Baltimore community. Subway riders who may have been exposed during a chemical release should gather on the median outside the North Broadway subway entrance to be assessed by hazmat and emergency medical services teams. “If people are exposed to a chemical, we want them to be treated right away,” Gwon says.
In the event of a chemical release in the subway, those on campus must shelter in place, according to code instructions. “We will have to lock down the buildings if an alarm goes off,” Gwon says. “We don’t want to contaminate people and our buildings by bringing people who have been exposed into the building. Then we’d increase casualties by not being able to function in that area, depending on the chemical.”
The chemical detector has been integrated into the subway’s emergency response system, which includes other monitors, cameras and communications systems. It is designed to detect up to 20 chemical agents and toxic industrial chemicals, from sarin nerve gas to highly irritating substances, Gwon says.
In tests conducted on-site by MTA and Baltimore authorities, SNIFFER has successfully detected the toxic chemicals it is programmed to sense. The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Baltimore City have participated in emergency drills and are ready to respond if the chemical detectors are activated. Senior leadership, the Emergency Management Committee and the Incident Command Team have approved policies and procedures for responding to a potential chemical release.
“We’re ready from a command center perspective,” Gwon says.
Three training sessions for commuters who work on different shifts are scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 31 and will take place at 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. in Hurd Hall and at 6 p.m. in Schaffer Auditorium. For more information, call the Office of Emergency Management at 410-502-6122.