Search Forum Home   Discussions  General Discussion  Design Question...  First Question: Mistakes in School Hostage Situations    5/12/2007 5:32:37 AM host 46 posts First Question: Mistakes in School Hostage Situations I agree with Joe. As police we are (for the most part) trained to work alone. The dynamics of ICS calls for more team work. This is the primary issue for such incidents. Joe's second statement about the vehicle parking is also valid. My addition would be that we tend to rush in without having the proper equipment, such as: PPE.  5/12/2007 5:32:53 AM host 46 posts Rushing in Gary -- Thanks, and thanks again to Joe as well. I assume by PPEs you mean vests, etc., and perhaps, in some situations, oxygen masks or decontamination suits? Bruce  5/12/2007 5:33:21 AM host 46 posts Re: Task List Would it be possible to get a list of tasks for each "Agency" (Police, Fire Dept, EMS, School, Public Works) that they might be required to perform at the various types of incidents we're concerned with? Such a "Task List" probably could (and should) be handled "per agency". Thanks! Charles Kibler Edited by: Chuck A Luck56 at: 10/18/04 12:08 pm  5/12/2007 5:33:45 AM host 46 posts Re: Task List Hello - Strongly recommend that you look to using the Emergency Response to Terrorism Job Aid - Edition 2.0 published by FEMA. It has what would be the Agency-Related Actions for Fire Dept., EMS, Law Enforcement, & HazMat for any CBRNE incident. The other reference source for the first 30 minutes of the incident should be the ERG - Emergency Response Guidebook published by US DOT. The area that is lacking is the role of the Public Works. I would recommend looking at what is online by TEEX for this subject area. Refer to web site www.teexwmdcampus.com From a standpoint of performance - ODP has Blended Learning with skill sets for Awareness as well as Performance (Operational/Technician) for tactical assignment competience.  5/12/2007 5:34:35 AM host 46 posts RE: Mistakes in School Hostage Situations We just participated in a live exercise of a School Hostage Situation. I served as the fire service evaluator. The biggest problem was that everyone knew it was an exercise! We preach and preach Scene Safety and fortunately our people practiced it in this exercise but in real life events too many times they forget in the middle of the addrenaline rush! Communications is also a big issue. We added a dynamic to it where the Hostage takers created a fire in one of the school courtyards and said that they had gasoline soaked some of the students and would ignite them and the building if the SWAT team rushed the building. The Swat team identified that the courtyard fire posed no hazard and kept the fire crews out, but only after the fire crews were initially told to move from their safe location up closer to the school. But what if the Hostage takers had started a real fire in a different section of the school? Another area that was a problem was the 911 call center. We actually overloaded it even though we made plans that we thought would keep us from doing it. It found a major problem in our 911 Call Center which has since been fixed! I would say that most 911 call centers could be overloaded very easily by this type of situation. Between students calling in about the situation from in the school and parents calling to find out about the situation and the media as well. It doesn't take long to fill up a lot of phone lines. How will your call center handle it, esp. during the first 30 to 60 minutes. Just some thoughts. David  Page 2 of 3 Previous123Next    Discussions  General Discussion  Design Question... Flat View Tree View Oldest To Newest Newest To Oldest