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Pair of Pa. paramedics ready for terror to strike

By Al Lowe
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.

Jesse Siefert and Steve Vucich waited at Pittsburgh International Airport for their flight to Alabama last month and wondered if any colleagues they knew from local ambulance services would be joining them.

They soon realized, as Mr. Vucich said, “We’re it.”

The two Medical Rescue Team South Authority paramedics were the only two Pennsylvanians in a class of 35 police officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel to receive specialized training at a facility operated by the Department of Homeland Security.

The training Oct. 23-27 on responding to acts of terrorism was held at the Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala.

Mr. Vucich, 36, of Whitehall, said that, after Sept. 11, 2001, emergency personnel all over the country received National Incident Management System training.

The class he and Mr. Siefert, 24, of Baldwin Borough, attended was more advanced training that they are expected to pass on to colleagues and ambulance companies in neighboring communities.

This was the first such class the center offered. The men applied and were accepted.

The focus was on cooperation among neighboring departments, agencies, counties and states to work together seamlessly to react to terror situations.

The men learned how to respond to various scenarios, such as if a school bus full of children were to hit a tanker carrying liquid sulfur near the border of two counties.

They learned about coordination of volunteer efforts, releasing news of the calamity and how to evacuate people, if necessary.

The men are no strangers to handling emergencies, because it’s what they do every day. Mr. Vucich worked on photograph identification after the crash of Flight 427.

Six communities — Baldwin Township, Castle Shannon, Dormont, Green Tree, and Whitehall boroughs and Mt. Lebanon — with a total of 74,000 people are served by MRTSA.

The service has four shift supervisors, 25 paramedics, 23 emergency medical technicians and 18 volunteers, in addition to seven administrative staff members and a full-time mechanic.

MRTSA allots time and budget for training. The federal government paid for travel, meals and lodging at an estimated cost of $6,000 per student.

After a quick breakfast, the pair went to class from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and had the options of attending seminars at night.

“By far, it was the most intense training I ever had in my life,” Mr. Siefert said.