Developing a
MUTUAL AID ATTITUDE
in the Dispatch Center
by Jerry E. Smith
| Jerry E. Smith
is an expert in mutual aid, a former Captain with the Los Angeles City Fire
Department, and a former Assistant Chief with the California Governor's
Office of Emergency Services, Fire-Rescue Division. After retiring in 1987,
Jerry became a private consultant and established Inter Consulting Systems,
specializing in seminars, technical and self-help books for fire-rescue
service education. http://www.wionline. com/ics/ |
This article can be found on
page 40 of the Mar/Apr 1997
issue of 9-1-1 Magazine.
Some public safety agencies follow a somewhat contemptuous attitude in that they seldom or never ask for mutual aid help. This attitude often filters down to the dispatch center. Some agencies believe there is little need for formal mutual aid dispatcher training, since an experienced specialist is called in to handle such matters. They may also say: we're always on the giving end; our dispatchers rarely handle mutual aid call-outs and therefore don't need to be adequately trained in procedures.
Historically, when disaster strikes, the impacts on communication systems are very similar. For starters, the volume of incoming calls will overload all telephone circuits and responding field units will jam radio frequencies. In severe cases, you may not be able to access outside lines for important call-outs. Add these mechanical limitations to what was once a controlled work environment and now you have a heightened atmosphere of stress and uncertainty. This is not the time for trial and error performance in asking for mutual aid help.
The emotional pressures mount. The local Emergency Operation Center has not yet been activated, the workload is overwhelming for dispatchers. Your personal comfort zone is flashing red lights. The trainee you've been evaluating is seriously thinking of an immediate career change.
The news media and local politicians show up and want a briefing. The mayor wants to know how bad it will get. With a combination of heavy radio traffic and radio signal override; it's now becoming difficult to comprehend the conditions at the incident. You're unable to establish an accurate overview of resources committed or confirm the progress of the disaster in all areas.
As a result of this communication breakdown, field units are now turning to self-assigning themselves at the incident. Subsequently, there is no coordinated or managed response to this disaster. Self-dispatching mutual aid units from outside jurisdictions begin arriving and only add to the congestion of this large scale, uncoordinated response effort.
To complicate matters, the fire chief arrives at the communication center and asks for the immediate request of 100 Type I or II fire engines from the State mutual aid system. The mutual aid specialist normally responsible for handling this request has yet to arrive. With a rapidly expanding disaster and your lack of mutual aid training, you decide it's quicker to circumvent the State mutual aid system organization and save valuable time. Your limited understanding of how the mutual aid system works dictates an incorrect course of action. When you're able to access an outside line, you telephone the State Office of Emergency Services and ask them to send everything they have.
The moral to this true story is that agencies who do not raise their mutual aid awareness and fail to train their dispatchers in mutual aid procedures could be destined to self destruct during a major disaster requiring mutual aid.
90% Attitude
A public safety executive once told me that mutual aid could be defined as 90% attitude. As people work together, they get to know each other, relationships are formed. Trust levels develop. In time of need, and without question, they respond to help each other. Ultimately, they grow to better understand each other's strength and weakness.
A communications supervisor representing a metro public safety agency told me: "I understand how to coordinate mutual aid in our area. However, I'm not sure what happens with a mutual aid request after it leaves our coordination point." If this metro supervisor doesn't understand the overall mutual aid system that well, what about the dispatchers that work for this individual? Could we expect their understanding of mutual aid to be any better? Should we question why this communications officer hasn't met with the Region and State mutual aid coordinators and discussed the basic mechanics of mutual aid coordination? Should there have been required mutual aid training for this person before he took over the position of communications supervisor?
In a recent after-action report, a State-appointed committee in California recommended 53 ways to improve mutual aid response statewide. In this chilling 1992 report, communications dispatchers were criticized and scolded for not understanding how their State mutual aid system works. Are we to believe the mutual aid coordination problems experienced in this report were just an isolated event? Could these kinds of symbolic problems occur elsewhere?
A subsequent questionnaire was conducted that same year in a high risk area of the Western United States. The startling results confirmed that 50% of the participating public safety agencies were not fully aware of their State mutual aid system. More than half of the questioned agencies did not participate in routine mutual aid training. Sixty percent reported mutual aid was not part of their standard training. Ninety-five percent said they were not prepared for the worst case disaster scenario. Should we assume the overall integrity of this State mutual aid system is safe and secure?
Not long ago I overheard a public safety professional talking about a neighboring agency with fewer facilities and resources. Vocalizing his personal position on mutual aid, he said: "We don't need mutual aid, we're big enough to take care of ourselves!" You wonder how far down in the organization this rather indifferent attitude may reach. Is this public official serving the public trust? Could this person be held accountable someday?
Tough Lessons Learned
In Oakland, California on one particular October day in 1991, dispatchers in the fire-rescue communications center would soon learn they were not ready for what was about to happen. A rekindle from the previous day's small brush fire was about to explode with avenging force. Combined with high winds, low humidity; this setting for disaster quickly transformed a built-up, congested residential hillside into the urban interface inferno of the century. Over 3300 homes destroyed, a 1.5 billion dollar loss, a catastrophic urban disaster that caused public condemnation, a media event that scolded the local fire department. The new fire chief became the target of angry homeowners.
With all due respect, and according to the state's official after-action report, the on-duty dispatchers were unfamiliar with established protocols, procedures, and terminology for requesting mutual aid. They were doomed at the start to fail. Request procedures that should be completed quickly were taking several minutes to clarify, causing serious delays in getting help. This was another unfortunate, but classic, example of what happens when mutual aid agencies fail to train their users and providers.
It Starts With A Telephone Call
Most emergency responses begin with a 9-1-1 telephone call to the local PSAP. A successful request for mutual aid will also begin and end in the public safety communications center. The center becomes a strategic facility for the flow of information from the incident to the outside world. The overall success or failure of mitigation efforts could very well depend on how well your agency communicates with the state mutual aid organization. Dispatchers who understand how the system works will respect and follow mutual aid protocols, policies and guidelines. Those who don't will confuse, stress, and short-circuit their mutual aid system. Misunderstanding could obstruct and delay response of much needed life saving support.
Knowing What To Say
An improper request for mutual aid is one that lacks concise information and standard mutual aid terminology. Exclusion of details necessary to alert, activate, and respond mutual aid forces will cause delays while the system searches for more information.
In 1977, the Santa Barbara County Operational Area Fire-Rescue Communications Center requested 25 OES fire engines from the Los Angeles County Fire Department to respond to their urban interface wildfire. Early evening winds were whipping a fire storm through the hillsides of Santa Barbara. What the Area dispatcher requesting help from the Region should have said was, "We need the closest available 25 mutual aid fire engines to respond immediately." Five hours later; the first State OES fire engine strike team showed up in compliance with his request. Mobilizing State owned OES engines takes longer when staffed with off-duty personnel. This experience caused changes in mutual aid terminology and the use of on-duty forces where possible.
Always, be specific in a mutual aid request. Clarify what you need and when you need it! Do not leave anything to the imagination of the mutual aid provider. For example: "we need the immediate response of ten, type II engine strike teams to incident staging." There are no explanations for not understanding how your state mutual aid system works and your role in it.
The mutual aid program in any state is only as reliable as are the people trusted for understanding the mechanics of procedure and operation. Public safety will continue to face a variety of complex and sometimes overwhelming disasters. At this writing, wildfires are breaking records in the Western United States, and Hurricanes Eduardo and Fran have spun with powerful winds toward the upper East Coast. Earthquake frequency in populated areas are on the rise; a civil disturbance perpetuated by criminal street gangs may suddenly start where protest or celebration is held. The threat of a terrorist bomb may suddenly paralyze a community. Hazardous materials transportation will continue to threaten our streets, railways, highways and interstates. Where areas of growth meet the volatility of wildfire in our foothills and forests, intermix fire storms will continue to claim life and property.
We are virtually assured that more disasters will occur. Could you be the next victim? Are you confident your organization will pass the test when you're required to receive massive amounts of mutual aid? Including the ordering, staging, deployment, support and demobilization of mutual aid? This turbulent decade and those to follow will continue to bring about record setting disaster calamities to challenge public safety readiness and response.
