MCI Emergency Response Incident Team - MERIT

Verizon Business

Major Emergency Response Incident Team – MERIT

“Protecting the Verizon Business Network”

Mission Statement

The MERIT organization is a team of full-time Verizon Business employees with varying communications backgrounds. Team members have been trained in emergency response management, as well as performing communications equipment and network repair functions for the Verizon Business network.

This team of specialists has been trained under Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) guidelines to protect the survivability of the Verizon Business network and its facilities at times when the network is most vulnerable, such as during natural disasters or hazardous materials incidents. The team is trained to perform technical communications functions in biologically/chemically contaminated environments.

Verizon Business (formerly MCI) created MERIT in 1992 to deal with threats of external hazards which potentially prevent employee access to a technical facility. The team is comprised of Verizon Business employees who are managers, engineers and communications technicians. Each of the team members has been screened for their technical knowledge of communications businesses with a focus on a wide variety of cross functional skills such as IP, data, Internet, and voice, as well as the ability to deal with switches, digital cross connects, routers, hubs, transmission equipment and all critical infrastructure elements such as AC/DC power, generators and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems.

· All 30 team members are full-time employees of Verizon Business, primarily employed to perform normal telecom/data communication tasks. However, each member receives additional specialized training to become hazmat certified. Many members are current or former firefighters and/or emergency medical technicians.

· MERIT team members are trained to operate at the highest operational level (Level A), which allows for entry into a contaminated zone using fully encapsulated hazmat suits. As the telecom industry’s first and most experienced hazmat team, MERIT is prepared to respond and perform in nearly every type of chemical or biological atmosphere. Multiple tools are used to detect more than 30 chemicals, anthrax, Ricin and radiological contamination.

· An initial 40-hour training class and eight hours of annual refresher training are required by all MERIT members. The team trains more than 60 hours per year in different environments/working a variety of incidents. All team members are trained in the Unified Incident Command System and receive annual physical exams.

· MERIT is a self-contained team which brings all tools and equipment to the emergency scene in custom-designed transport and support vehicles to avoid depleting local emergency response resources.

· Team members are deployed from diverse locations nationwide. An operating team can be assembled anywhere in the continental U.S. within 24 hours. Equipment is staged in multiple locations nationwide for transport by land or air, regardless of local weather conditions. Verizon Business ships two sets of equipment to every hazmat incident site in case one set is lost or damaged while in route to the event.

Major MERIT Deployments Since 2000

2006

Asbestos Abatement – August/September, Charlotte, North Carolina

Leased facility housing Verizon Business network equipment is undergoing asbestos abatement activity. MERIT team members are onsite protecting network equipment and working on communications equipment as needed during this process. Dayton, Ohio – asbestos abatement following a fire in building.

2005

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

August 29 - September – team worked in the New Orleans area immediately after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding in the region. Team was responsible for ensuring areas were cleared of environmental and biological issues where Verizon Business employees were working to repair the network. Team worked asbestos abatement, air quality and water testing.

2004

Hurricane Ivan – September 16, West of Gulf Shores, Alabama

2003

Hurricane Isabel – September 18, Drum Inlet, North Carolina

2002

Hurricane Lil i – October 3, Louisiana

Winter Olympics, Feb. 8-24 in Salt Lake City, Utah

2001

July 18 – Baltimore Tunnel Fire – a train wreck/derailment which involved hazardous materials created a massive multi-day fire near downtown Baltimore. Verizon Business MERIT members performed air monitoring that allowed access into an evacuated network facility.

May 12-14 – Houston Flood, Tropical Storm Allison

Sept. 11 – Deployed to New York City and Washington, DC – operated at Ground Zero for seven days to provide air monitoring and logistical support; aided the NYC mayor’s Office of Emergency Management and FEMA.

November 16-19 – Restored data communication services at the United States Postal Service distribution facility which was contaminated by anthrax in Trenton, NJ. MERIT replaced and restored routers/hubs and communications system in the USPS facility.

2000

May – Responded to a major train derailment in Eunice , LA. Area was impacted by hazmat issues for several days.