Prudent Ventures
National Fire & Rescue Magazine
Feature Articles
Practice Makes Perfect
- NovDec 2008
Lessons from a National Level Exercise
By
Al Krause and Ruth Higgins
 Located
on the absolute northwestern-most tip of the continental United States, where
national boundaries weave in and out of island masses, Whatcom County,
Washington, is home to about 175,000 residents, an active volcano (Mt. Baker)
and 75 percent of the nation’s raspberry production. The county itself includes
21 different fire districts, including one up by Birch Bay in Blaine, the North
Whatcom Fire and Rescue Service, that is headed by Chief Tom Fields. Chief
Fields normally oversees 10 stations, 43 pieces of equipment and 120 people
(including 58 volunteers), but earlier this year, for six hours, he commanded a
force that was significantly larger. This was part of the National Level
Exercise (NLE 2-08) organized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to test
coordination in response to simulated natural and manmade disasters.
During most of the last
century, Birch Bay was the “Coney Island” of the Vancouver area, but now
condominiums have replaced the Ferris wheel and dance halls. However, it is
still home to a former military post that provided enough open space to stage
this exercise, with plenty of room for helicopters, rescue units and responders,
and was likewise chosen for its location, midway between two oil refineries and
the Canadian border.
The training exercise
actually began five days earlier when “a mysterious van from Canada collided
with another vehicle under the Seattle viaduct, 110 miles to the south, causing
a deadly chemical release.”
Shortly after 9 a.m. on
May 6, a similar release was discovered at Camp Horizon, the old military base
in Birch Bay (other operations were held simultaneously at the Northwest
Washington Fair and Events Center in Lynden and the St. Joseph Hospital in
Bellingham). Chief Fields, after learning that the chemical was methyl
isocyanate and checking his WISER (Wired Information System for Emergency
Responders) protocol for the safe zone, established his command post at the
entrance to the camp, 1,800 feet from the discharge. Immediately, he began
receiving mock radio reports such as, “Forty-four found down.” Chief Bill Boyd
of the Bellingham Fire Department acted as a controller and filled out the
scenario details as time elapsed (the entire exercise compressed 24 hours into
six).
Chief Fields’ force that
day included a dozen fire trucks, 35 ambulances, three helicopters, HazMat
vehicles, a mass-casualty van, sheriff’s deputies and their vehicles, U.S. Army
soldiers and specially trained Marines from the Chemical Biological Response
Force (CBIRF), based in Indian Head, Md. By midmorning, Chief Fields, realizing
difficulty in unifying his command, moved to the incident command center at the
Birch Bay fire station, manned by his deputy, Chief Gary Russell, of the nearby
Ferndale district. 
After that, “survivors”
began coming out as theater majors from Western Washington University and
nursing students from Whatcom Community College emerged covered in blood and
soot. They were “sprayed” for decontamination, then led to triage where they
were tagged and separated into groups (red arm tape for those in need of
immediate care and yellow for delayed treatment—there was no green for the minor
injuries). Of the 68 victims at the site, 18 were eventually transported to
hospital by ambulance. Four times during the drill, mock reports went to
television and radio stations that would have kept citizens informed of the
spread of the chemical cloud with advice to “shelter in place.”
“That fire district has
some very energetic folks in its plans section,” says Elton Thomas, Northwest
Incident Management Team evaluator and a former type 1 plans chief. “I thought
it was a good plan by Chief Fields, the sheriff’s office and the FBI to go into
unified command immediately. The sooner the better on multijurisdictional
incidents.”
Shortly after 11 a.m.,
the Marines swooped onto the scene with special equipment for reconnaissance and
decontamination. Dressed in heavy protective gear, they set out to search the
buildings for survivors in need of decontamination and treatment. Some human
victims were treated in the field hospital while mannequin and paper victims
went by helicopter to care facilities outside the immediate, overburdened area.
In the scenario, 3,500 people were lost.
“The military was
impressed with how things inter-meshed, how well things inter-messaged and how
well we performed,” says Chief Russell. “This business is no longer just about
putting water on houses.”
During all of this, no
sirens wailed and no panic ensued. In advance, newspapers reported the impending
drill and advised of possible road closures. Very few people in the neighborhood
appeared alarmed; instead, many sat out in lawn chairs and enjoyed the
spectacle.
Chief Boyd, who acted as
an evaluator as well as controller, later said, “Full functional exercises like
the Ardent Sentry drill are invaluable in teaching emergency responders the
real-world complexities of handling large and complex emergency incidents while
working with unfamiliar personnel and agencies. One of the most valuable aspects
of these types of exercises is making contacts with key representatives from
other local, state and federal assets that can quickly come to our aid.”
LESSONS LEARNED
A week after the
exercise, chiefs Russell and Fields sat down to share what they learned:
Establish efficient
communication—The
chiefs attribute their successes to knowing the key commanders who were involved
in planning discussions before the exercise. Just as important as personal
relations, they say, is having adequate tools and training. The North Whatcom
district is limited to four radio frequencies because of its close proximity to
Canada, and sometimes truckers and others unrelated to the district’s mission
use two of those frequencies. As a result only two frequencies were available in
this drill, so cell phones and a communications van owned by the Blaine police
department bolstered communications. All personnel constantly train on NIMS
(National Incident Management System) and ICS (Incident Command System),
producing familiarity with a common structure and terminology.
Learn how to summon
assets—Knowing
what you need is not enough. You must know how to get it—where it is and who to
contact. Chief Fields says he would not have been able to bring helicopters to
the scene so quickly without knowing the proper protocol.
Establish unified
command—Don’t
be too close to the disaster. Chief Fields initially established his command
post near the event, but looking back he realizes he should have relocated his
command to the ICC even earlier than he did.
Protect your people
first—Civilian
casualties in such a scenario are unavoidable. The projected estimate for this
disaster was 4,000. There’s no sense putting your rescue personnel at risk just
to collect bodies. North Whatcom organized a special medical team at a nearby
but separate site.
Make a place for
volunteers—Use
the many retired employees, trainees and members of other organizations (such as
the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service and Community Emergency Response
Training) who want to be involved in the practice.
Enable media to keep the
public informed—During
the exercise, communiqués labeled “In event of real disaster,” went to
television and radio stations providing information on the location of the
chemical cloud and related information. However, don’t let media people disrupt
operations. North Whatcom provided a separate media position away from the
command post.
Subscribe to
National Fire & Rescue magazine
click here
5808 Faringdon Place ~ Suite 200
Raleigh, NC 27609-3930
Phone: (919) 872-5040 ~ Fax: (919) 876-6531
| 
