It’s interesting that the public safety industry is broken down into several large segments, commonly referred to as disciplines, and that each discipline can further be broken down into various parts and pieces. There are huge chunks of various commercial enterprises that support the disciplines and the front line operators in those disciplines are tasked with working seamlessly together. That said, when and where is there an effort to get ALL of those front line operators – or anyone in their chain of command – together to highlight the coordinative efforts, tools, etc.? There is a conference called Secured Cities and it’s the ONE conference that seems to exist that targets not individual public safety disciplines, but the public safety service as a whole.
What does this mean? Let’s take a look at the law enforcement discipline – since that’s what Officer.com focuses most on. The law enforcement profession is one of the three main public safety disciplines; the other two being firefighting and emergency medical services (EMS). If you identify conferences specifically aimed at law enforcement, you find plenty you can attend regionally and nationally. Virtually all of them will revolve around new equipment and training either to address a newly identified mandate (commonly created by a court decision or insurance loss) or to fine tune response tactics for a given event such as active shooter, terrorist attack, etc. What is most often overlooked is anything included that would coordinate such training with those responding from our sister disciplines of firefighting and EMS or even give us a means to share intelligence/data with them to increase the efficiency of our response.
Further, on the law enforcement side, the gear and response is targeted quite generically. Little is done to acknowledge, identify or segment out the varying needs that exist, due to different communities served, between federal, state, county, municipal, campus, hospital or other private law enforcement services (railroad and/or transit as the example of “private”). Reality is that each of those segments of law enforcement have different priorities and concerns as well as different capabilities for gathering data, monitoring their community, coordinating efforts, etc. Once again, a conference that focused on, supported and (maybe?) demonstrated those differences within a given discipline is of immeasurable value.
And what if such a conference did the same thing crossing the lines between the disciplines? What if that conference provided the same service, if you will, between law enforcement, firefighting and EMS? What would THOSE disciplines stand to gain or share at such a conference? Let’s take a brief look at the concerns and realities of those other two disciplines and see what we learn.
From Firehouse.com’s Editor In Chief, Tim Sendelbach:
When we take a look at the firefighting side of things… the emergency response that revolves around putting out fires, examining structures for safety and potential flare ups, rescuing people and more, we realize that preparedness means almost everything. We train to be prepared. We equip to be prepared. We plan (as much as we can) to be prepared. But…
Have we taken the time to learn the critical lessons from those who have experienced the horrors of these tragic events? Have we taken the time to mend the relationships with our neighboring jurisdictions and our brothers and sisters in blue to ensure that our call for help will not go unanswered? Have we taken the time to develop common policies and procedures to effectively manage and control our respective response(s) to ensure the highest degree of predictability and accountability amongst our operational crews? Have we clearly defined our go- and no-go policies to reflect the appropriate level of assumed risk and the balance of safety?
The world in which we live and work will forever present us with challenges and opportunities. It is up to us to accept these challenges and face them head on by preparing for what is quickly becoming our new reality.
From EMSWorld Editorial Director Nancy Perry:
EMS is at the intersection between public safety and healthcare, providing lifesaving medical care at chaotic events where scene control may be minimal at best. With the ever-increasing threat of terrorist incidents, on both a large-scale and potential lone wolf operations, EMS agencies need to understand and embrace operational security and situational awareness.
As we saw during the recent response to the San Bernardino mass shootings, an IED and Twitter threats menaced emergency personnel. Finding the IED at the scene wasn’t the only challenging aspect to the San Bernardino incident, but a smooth and well-crafted response by the San Bernardino City Fire Department, AMR, law enforcement and other partners helped minimize casualties, aid the wounded quickly and distilled some valuable lessons for when the next mass shooting occurs.
This type of multi-agency collaboration is more essential than ever before as public safety personnel face complex response challenges during resource-depleted times. It is incumbent upon EMS leaders that they become engaged with their law enforcement brethren and engaged with security briefings regarding present or emerging threats to their safety or the integrity of the EMS mission.
EMS also has a significant role to play in the intelligence-gathering process. We work in a dynamic and ever-changing world and, in many instances, are first to identify suspicious activity, some of which can be linked to international terrorism, domestic terrorism or homegrown violent extremists. The paradigm shift can be made from “first responders” to “first preventers” with ease. As EMS straddles the line between public safety and healthcare, there is much value that can be added to the intelligence community with a bidirectional relationship.
In Closing:
It is obvious to anyone who pays attention that the various public safety disciplines cannot effectively and efficiently move forward in a vacuum. They have to come together beyond the local table top exercises and identify the challenges they face as a team. They have to identify contemporary best practices where cross-discipline operations are concerned. They have to go above and beyond (as they are all so often asked to do) to develop a working knowledge of the public safety umbrella that includes so much more than their own, or even the other two disciplines. “Public Safety” includes virtually every police officer, including those at campuses and hospitals. It includes firefighters of every status from volunteer to paid (by any employer or level of government). It includes every EMT, Paramedic or other emergency first aid provider. For that matter – and where we sometimes miss the boat – it includes all nurses, doctors, and every other medical or support staff member in a medical facility. It includes those who are responsible for security on our transit systems, in our harbors, in our convention centers and everywhere else the public might be exposed to a threat.
THAT is how vast the challenge is and we never will meet it if we focus only on “our piece.” There are a variety of conferences and conventions from coast to coast in America and in other countries that focus on a specific public safety discipline. How many focus on the WHOLE of public safety? Only one I can find: The Secured Cities conference, this year being held in Houston, TX from November 15th through 17th. Check out the available information and get registered. Billed as “the leading government security and communications event,” it’s easy to think of it as “a DHS thing,” or “a dispatchers’ convention.” It’s neither one, but could touch both. With a broad enough focus to encompass security in all its forms and delve into the communications challenges (which includes video monitoring, access and more) faced by ALL public safety disciplines, Secured Cities offers a unique perspective on what public safety can be challenged with, especially if we’re not aware of how vast and intricate the “public safety net” itself is.
So, I encourage you: Register, Go, check it out. Learn about the existence of things you were previously unaware of and learn about tools that can make your jobs easier while helping your agency perform more efficiently.
