Discovery Park

Purdue University, University of Illinois at Chicago Selected
To Develop Regional Catastrophic Plans

The Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) has
selected teams from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., and the University of
Illinois at Chicago (UIC), to assist with the development of regional response plans
for catastrophic incidents. The project is being funded by a grant, for up to $3 million,
from the Department of Homeland Security's Fiscal Year 2008 Regional
Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP).

"The RCPGP Grant Program will allow us to enhance catastrophic incident
preparedness in the City of Chicago and nearby counties in Illinois, Indiana and
Wisconsin," said Gary W. Schenkel, OEMC Executive Director. "Once the project is
complete, we will have plans in place to integrate the combined resources of the
entire Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area to respond to a
catastrophic incident. The Evaluation Team received a number of good proposals
from various institutions of higher learning across the country competing for the
opportunity to work on these important projects for the Region. We look forward to
working with the teams associated with these world-class institutions to increase
preparedness on behalf of the millions of people living in the region."

The solicitation for the grant involved two separate projects - the development of
operational plans, procedures and other documents for the creation of Regional Hub
Reception Centers that would be activated for mass care and sheltering of large
influxes of people and pets displaced by a catastrophic event; and the creation of a
Private Sector Integration Plan (PSIP) to comprehensively integrate the private
sector with the emergency management community within the region, in conjunction
with local, State, and Federal established practices and procedures. Purdue
University will be awarded a grant to complete the Regional Hub Reception Center
project and the University of Illinois at Chicago will be awarded a grant for the
completion of the Private Sector Integration Plan.

The grant submissions were evaluated by an Evaluation Team comprised of
members from the Regional Catastrophic Planning Team, and were rated based on
the overall approach and methodology to the projects; the organization's experience
working in the field of emergency management; collaborative approaches;
management and organizational capabilities; development of an interdisciplinary
team; and engagement of emerging leaders.

The Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area, consisting of ten Illinois
counties, the City of Chicago, five Indiana counties, one Wisconsin county and the
three states.

State of Illinois participating counties/cities:
 

• City of Chicago
• Cook County
• DeKalb County
• DuPage County
• Grundy County
• Kane County
• Kankakee County
• Kendall County
• Lake County
• McHenry County
• Will County
  State of Indiana participating counties:
  
   
• Lake County
• Jasper County
• LaPorte County
• Newton County
• Porter County
  State of Wisconsin participating county:
  
   
• Kenosha County