Incident Assessment

To know what you’re up against, you must prepare for the worst

A key factor to incident response is real-time assessment of the magnitude, scope and complexity of the event. That’s easier said than done when you’re knee deep in a mess, but there is a way to get at least halfway there if you plan ahead and do some basic leg work and preparation.

The Facts, Straight
Over the years, I’ve heard many emergency managers and field commanders say that all they need to do is turn on the television and watch CNN (or equivalent) to get a better understanding of the size and scope of their problem.

Sometimes the news can be helpful; but other times, it can create a false perception of the “truth,” and as the White House found out during Hurricane Katrina, it can be wrong. The news networks that reported that New Orleans had done relatively well after Hurricane Katrina were the same that later reported a lack of immediate response by responders, the state and the federal government.

Greensburg, Kans., was devastated by a tornado in 2007. Google worked with our task force, which sent one team member as part of a FEMA USAR Incident Support Team to provide these before-and-after images, which were shared with the local incident commanders as part of the overall assessment process. Image courtesy Frank Fraone and Google

Very few things can beat a thorough damage assessment after an incident. Unfortunately, nothing could be harder at times to accomplish for a variety of logistical, political or practical reasons.

Your Assessment
An incident assessment is important not only to understanding the size, scope, magnitude and complexity of your event, but it’s also critical in establishing priorities, especially with limited resources and competing tasks. Remember: Your biggest enemies are time and disorganization.

Most of the larger events I’ve responded to have been disorganized in the early stages. Many would argue that’s just the way it goes: Take a normal day, burn it down, feel the wind blow, the earth shake or your feet get wet, and what do you expect?

It would be hard to argue with that logic if it wasn’t for the fact that we present ourselves as emergency responders, meaning we are supposed to be ready for extreme situations. Everyone wants to respond to the big one, but what have you done to prepare?

More time and money is spent at the task level to buy tools, trucks and train people than is ever dedicated to preparing the commanders who will manage those resources, make critical decisions, prioritize how those people and tools will be used and need to be on their game to be successful, protect their people and become masters of their trade.

Those same managers who daily have a million other tasks to accomplish, dozens of competing priorities and who spend the least amount of time attending training or responding to emergencies will suddenly be in charge, ready or not.

Donald Rumsfeld once said, “You go to war with the army you have.” Profound and accurate, there are rarely do-overs in emergency response. We get one shot at it; we don’t pick the time or place it often picks us. If something goes wrong we talk about what we could have done differently. The question remains—why didn’t you do this before the event?

Case in Point
After being hired with my agency, but prior to actually starting on probation, an article appeared in the local newspaper showing one of our firefighters lying in the hospital with his face and hands bandaged from burns. While ventilating the roof of a commercial building, he fell into a narrow space between a one- and a two-story building. He was both burned and electrocuted but survived after numerous attempts to rescue him failed because the crews kept running out of air, their cylinders not completely full due to a cascade air filling system. He never returned to work and was retired out.

After I actually started with the department I was assigned to refill air cylinders, but I had to be shown how to use the new air refill system first. There on the wall someone had written his name followed by, “The memorial air system.” How many memorials do we need to create before we become proactive rather than reactive?

Where to Start
New technology like Google Earth will allow you to obtain aerial grid maps of your jurisdiction prior to the occurrence of an actual event and could be invaluable. If you can get someone up in the air directly after an event—or better yet aerial photographs for the command team—you can compare your before and after information on the spot. It doesn’t replace boots on the ground or being there, but combining a vertical and horizontal perspective can help to get you the bigger picture, which is critical to good assessment and improved decision making.

Integrating preplans to prioritize structures, coupled with training on proper scene assessment with an emphasis on good search techniques before committing to rescues, along with a strong focus on accountability and methodical operations should help to put you on the right path. The hard part will be to stay there!

 Harold Schapelhouman is a 27-year veteran firefighter with the Menlo Park (Calif.) Fire Protection District. At the start of 2007, he became the first internally selected fire chief in 21 years for his organization. Previously, he was the division chief in charge of special operations, which includes all district specialized preparedness efforts, the local and state water rescue program, and the local, state and national Urban Search and Rescue Program (USAR).

Schapelhouman was the task force leader in charge of California Task Force 3, one of the eight California USAR teams and one of the 28 federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS/FEMA) teams.