In every city, town and county there are countless special events. Most are planned public events from fund raising cookoffs to concerts, parades, foot/bicycle races and so forth. Most every municipal government requires some permitting process. A problem is created when the municipal government approves (or not) and that is where the process stops. Considering ‘today’s new normal’, it is imperative that local governmental bodies communicate and coordinate with their first responders. Every state and local is different. In some these, approvals go through a vetting process to insure compliance with local ordinances, indemnification, insurance requirements and other fees. The depth of their coordination with others is the question here. Most are required to have an emergency manager to oversee the process and whether they are utilized to their potential is a point of concern. Sadly, there are some where there is no oversight, it just happens. Why ‘it’s always been that way’ and that line of thinking will haunt you some day.
Planning is everything
When I lecture on special event planning for small/medium sized departments I remind all of General Eisenhower ‘s quote that “plans are worthless, but planning is everything”. From the onset of your assignment of preparing for a special event – fair, parade, protest, political rally or whatever, there must be open lines of communications between all emergency responders for this event. Police must communicate with fire, EMS, public works, EMA and others from the onset. Their knowledge of the event and their expectations and needs must be clearly stated. Some of the smaller events require only a notification for that day’s duty officer for a head’s up note. Take your basic outdoor concert for example. Should any additional resources have to respond in the area or to the event, patron parking may restrict movement of larger equipment needed. There could be street closures or increased need in their response due to population or event support. If they cannot get there with their equipment, they are losing time.
Many may question when I mention public works as primary asset or responder, they can be. Most of what is required to make an event work – traffic management, creature comforts, waste management, clean-up or re-entry into a disaster requires public works and their support. I have often stated that without logistics, nothing happens. Incorporate public works early on in your planning and response. If these events are on public lands there more than likely will be a Parks & Recreation commission who need to be at the table. These people often have other assets in play that can be helpful in managing the event or response.
Information silos
After completing the after-action reports from recent major active attack/shooter and other events there seems to be a common theme – lack of communication. To redefine this, sometimes there was a total lack and in others restrictive or limited amounts (‘the need to know’ excuse). Whether the reports were by independent investigators or by governmental entities, there were communication breakdowns from planning to implementation. Some were minor, others major. During the course of events to wrapping it up, information was not shared by all. I cringe to think of the lives that were put in jeopardy due to this failure. Gordon Graham, a risk management expert coined the phrase – “if it is predictable, it is preventable”. We as commanders and leaders of emergency responders need to learn from past lessons and apply to our future event planning.
There is core theme of lack of communications between all emergency responders. Inability to communicate or lack of motive to share information can become hazardous for all. For instance, if a large concert was planned and there were injuries from a bleacher collapse (a non-criminal event) this could be a mass casualty request to EMS. Did they know about it to pre-stage for example? Do you also share such events with your local emergency/trauma center? Knowledge provides time to prepare which can make a difference.
The Unknowns
Across the country this happens somewhere, an illegal, non-sanctioned event or spontaneous events (post-law enforcement interaction) occurs. Most do not make the news but those that do are above the fold in the morning’s paper. These are the most unpredictable that we deal with. Every department should have their crowd control response plans current and all trained. Where do the others fit in? The active shooter/attack event we have all been training and planning. As well as natural occurring events (tornadic, severe weather or flooding) require different responses as well. Sadly, there is no one plan that fits all but the basics of all create a starting foundation.
Smaller/Medium size communities offer a gambit of unknowns. Should you have to work with volunteer fire companies and EMS companies is a true reality to planning. Due to being volunteer their response times can be longer than that of a full paid professional staff. Their training may need to be adjusted when the circus comes to town. The ability for volunteers to take off from work to stand-by for a prolonged event can be burdensome and have economic impact on the lives of their members. As for the smaller/medium sized police agencies, they too have to ramp-up training and even consider mutual aid support for larger events. You might be able to handle one shift of the operations, but if this goes to a prolonged or cascading event, you will need to have outside support. If you are a larger department there are special units or trained response teams for these special events. Just remember, all regardless of size need to train and prepare.
No one size fits all
Unfortunately, there is no one response plan that fits all needs. We must prepare for the planned and the spontaneous events. If you knew tomorrow, you were having a catastrophic event that would test your agency – what would you do today to prepare for it? The truth is that if the time to perform arrives, the time to prepare has eluded you. Failure to share information and plans before special events when there is ample time to share and plan for is negligence without a doubt. All first responder commanders are entrusted with the public’s safety. When we fail to share, plan and coordinate between our partners; we have failed. I am the last person in the world to ask to have another meeting, but these are important. Contingent plans for the spontaneous events require training, practice unified command. One unspoken truth is the ego conflicts between chiefs and commanders. Usually when the big chiefs cannot get along, seems that the street commanders will get along and make it happen. The street working relationships occur on a daily basis. Just let them work it out. We need to find and tear down the silos that are built on and protect egos. Grow up and get over it, lives are at stake here. Positive communication coupled with planning is golden. There will be some that feels this is overkill, but it will be their kryptonite.
