I was recently told the story of a state trooper who was dispatched to an epic massive pile-up on an interstate highway. Upon the trooper’s arrival, he gazed upon this monumental crash as the primary responder and investigating officer and made a simple request of his dispatcher. “Send me everything you got!” Now I am not going to make levity of this trooper for I have never had to investigate a multi-vehicle crash of this epic proportion. There are some realities of life when it comes to first responder who is the first on scene. First and foremost, you (by default) become the a la’ incident commander for the first few critical hours. Therefore, having a better understanding on resources is critical.
Now in this case what if the dispatcher wanted to follow this request to the letter. Should they start up emergency shelters? Is there a need for heavy rescue? Air support? Building Collapse crews? You see what I am speaking about here? Law enforcement supervisors and commanders may need to have familiarization training in what encompasses all of emergency management’s resources and assets. Some are specialized and some require a multi-layer support to operate, for some are not self-supporting. The fire service and emergency management has been doing this training for years, going to a 2nd alarm or other pre-established response protocols. Call for Haz-Mat, they have a support response as well. EMS also has established a triage in their response of basic and advanced life support dispatches. We as law enforcement should consider grasping this as well. In some areas of the country law enforcement has accomplished this skill level and in some areas we are lacking. This would be critical training for the young supervisors who by virtue of rank become the incident commander by default.
So what is a young supervisor or aspiring commander to do in addressing this training void? I would suggest that you first visit your 911 Center for familiarization and consider designing a table top training exercise for your staff. This will ensure that all are getting the same information for consistent decision making. We are taught to embrace the concept of unified command; we need to train in this conception. Within the 911 center there should be pre-established plans on whom and what is called for certain types of incidents and these could serve as base plan for the uninformed.
Do you and your staff know what resources are available to you locally or regionally? Most cops are content knowing that fire trucks, ambulances and rescue trucks show up when they request them. (For the fire and EMS readers, I know there are more specific and descriptive terms for your fleet, just trying to keep it simple here for uninitiated). These are the routine calls but the spectacular ones are the ones that we all need to prepare for.
In the world of rescue there are many specialized responses. This can be from swift water rescue, trench rescue, auto extrication, building collapse, up to heavy rescue. I am glazing over this very rapidly but each has defined missions and capabilities. Just the equipment and support vehicles may require a staging area. I must also include companion and agricultural animal response teams. Consider your plans on handling a tractor trailer load of swine going to market that is involved in a rollover crash. Some need removal, others to be herded and where are you going to corral them up. Big suggestion, rural or urban is to have an animal response team member handy. Do not forget to have an urban and wild land search and rescue unit at your service as well. Missing Alzheimer’s patients to lost hikers, search & rescue are a godsend with their services.
Fire service is very similar with their specializations. One I would invest time in knowing is Rehab Units. These are the ones that set-up heating or cooling stations, provide necessary hydration/nutrition and rehabilitative support to first responders. Get a cop directing traffic in a triple figure heat index, how are you going to prevent them from heat illness, send them to rehab to get them back in the swing of things. Your medical support may even require an area for victim triage or mass causality management.
Do not forget two overlooked assets that can take a load off your shoulders during a major incident. I am sure your department or local emergency management has a Public Information Officer (PIO), big hint here use them to your advantage. We all feel that the media can be annoying especially when they are calling for an interview and you are in the middle of dynamic incident. They can be helpful in getting the word out to help your situation (example- road closures) so utilize your PIO as the media wrangler to your fullest advantage. One of the unsung heroes of all of this is your public works or highway crews. Granted we often overlook them but having a positive relationship with them is the difference in waiting for hours to get a road open verses a prompt response.
This is not some fire and rescue admiration article, nor to make levity of young commanders who are getting into the unified command business. There is a learning curve that all of law enforcement needs to address in the unified command world. We are good at what we do but need a little enlightenment from our emergency partners. The goal is that we all work together, smarter and more efficient in maximizing everyone’s service delivery to those in need.
