By Jim Read Staff writer
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)
Copyright 2006 Post-Standard
All Rights Reserved
Manlius police and members of the town’s four fire departments last week tested themselves and their preparations for something they hope never happens.
The town’s Critical Response Committee sponsored a table-top drill Nov. 27 in the large group instruction room at Wellwood Middle School in Fayetteville.
The exercise was designed to bring the departments together to practice using the federal National Incident Management System in a large-scale incident.
Manlius Police Sgt. Rob Winter wrote the scenario: an explosion at a bowling alley where a political fundraiser was being held.
The responders had to develop a plan to care for dozens of injured people, search the burning building and put out the fire.
They had to determine if the explosion was accidental or an act of terror. And they had to keep themselves safe from the possibility of more explosions and exposure from toxins in the smoke.
The responders also had to use the language and organizational principles of NIMS.
The federal government has mandated all local governments use the systems to improve the ability of responders to work together as a result of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks through the use of a common terminology and organization.
NIMS is based on the systems developed over the years by the federal government to fight wildfires in western states.
Pete Shepardson , second assistant chief of the Fayetteville Fire Department served as the incident commander.
He put Fayetteville Fire Capt. John Falgiatano in charge of emergency medical services and Manlius Police Sgt. Mark Zesky in charge of the police element. Manlius Deputy Fire Chief Paul Whorrall handled the building search and fire suppression.
Shepardson also appointed a safety officer and delegated another arriving fire chief to handle staging of newly arriving firefighters and equipment.
DeWitt Fire Lt. Randy Griffin , who served as one of the drill facilitators, said just having all the departments participate made the drill a success.
The response also was effective, he said, but “there are still some difficulties using the new system.”
Under NIMS, police, fire and medical units must work together, Griffin said.
“It’s not just a matter of coexisting,” he said. “It’s melding them together so it’s a single action plan.”
Trustees and the mayors of the town’s three villages as well as town board members and Supervisor Hank Chapman observed the drill with other members of the emergency services not called upon to play a part.
The responders were not told the nature of the incident in advance.
They waited outside the classroom until dispatched by Shawn Tompkins , a DeWitt firefighter and deputy county fire coordinator.
A model with the bowling alley and surrounding parking lot and street was used as a visual aid.
As units arrived, they would use the model to show where they would position police cars and fire apparatus.
To give the drill an atmosphere of authenticity, a video played on a large screen showing people trying to get out of a burning building.
Previous drills have exposed communication problems between police and fire units which use different radio frequencies. Last week’s drill found communications still need work.
For example, Zesky interviewed the bowling alley manager and a waiter and learned valuable information about the explosion and how many people were at the party.
He had difficulty getting the information to the proper fire officials.
“You were getting good information about what was going on,” Winters said.
Shepardson said he lost track of the number of units involved. Keeping responders safe is the most important element of managing an incident.
“When something catastrophic happens, you have to account for everyone,” Griffin said. Typically, the incident commander will appoint someone to keep notes.
Forms have been developed to help incident commanders track the response, Griffin said. Those forms are a part of the action plan that can be passed on to the next group of commanders taking over the incident, as in the case of wildfires that can take days or weeks to fight.
But Shepardson also earned praise from Deputy Onondaga County Fire Coordinator Louis Longo , who also served as a facilitator.
“Pete was thinking big,” he said, by setting up a structure to handle medical, fire and police rather than try to handle each element himself.
Griffin, Tomkins, Winter and Longo will write a report on the drill and share it with all the departments.
The Critical Response Committee plans to conduct another drill in the spring, possibly bringing in municipal officials to play roles, Winters said.
Most of the elected officials in the town of Manlius and villages of Minoa, Fayetteville and Manlius have taken NIMS training as required by the federal government.
“This is a valuable activity,” said Elizabeth Haas , a planner in the Onondaga County Department of Emergency Management, who also observed the drill. “It’s important for responders to know each other and work together.”