Covering 4,300 square miles in northern Oregon and southwest Washington, and home to a population of nearly two million, the Portland Urban Area includes the City of Portland and the five surrounding counties of Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Columbia and Clark. Through funding from the Department of Homeland Security, the Portland Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) strives to develop long-term interoperability between federal, state and local responders.

DELTAWRX is currently working with the Portland (UASI) Communications Working Group to facilitate and develop a regional strategic plan and five individual county plans. The plans address short- and long-term communication interoperability between federal, state and local responders. DELTAWRX is also assisting with the review of the region’s federal Tactical Interoperable Communication Plan (TICP). All public and private systems involved in the provision of public safety services in the UASI area are being analyzed through this project.

In addition, DELTAWRX is assisting the UASI Communications Working Group and the City of Portland with the development of a Full-Scale Exercise involving an Improvised Explosive Device as required by the Department of Homeland Security. Specifically, DELTAWRX is facilitating the planning, design, management and reporting of the full-scale exercise.

Upon completion, the Portland Urban Area will have a specific plan for the various agencies to utilize communication resources more efficiently when responding to various multi-jurisdictional emergency events. Further, the Full-Scale Exercise will result in a complete After Action Report and Improvement Plan to be used as an important tool for improving coordination and interoperability among the local, state and federal agencies in the Portland UASI.