CSM applauds DC emergency response
Dave Cook with the Christian Science Monitor sends kudos to DC emergency response agencies. The Mayor? Well, not so much. It is a short piece, most of it is reproduced below.
Emergency response to Metrorail crash shows post-9/11 gains
Communications and coordination in D.C. area were smooth, akin to rescue after Hudson plane crash.
By Dave Cook | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the June 24, 2009 edition
Washington - First responders’ effective handling of Monday’s rail accident in Washington, coupled with the smooth rescue after a Hudson River plane crash in January, may indicate that the post-9/11 demand for better, faster emergency response is being met – at least in some of the nation’s big cities.
“The regional response that is required during extraordinary incidents (Hudson and Metro being two good recent examples) has, in my opinion, significantly improved since 9/11,” Daniel Kaniewski, deputy director of George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, wrote Wednesday in an e-mail interview. He served in the Bush White House as special assistant to the president for homeland security and senior director for response policy.
Triggering an effective response
On Monday afternoon, one Metrorail train slammed into a second train stopped outside the Fort Totten Station in Northeast Washington. The impact pushed part of the moving train onto the top of the stationary train. Two-thirds of the moving train’s lead car was crushed, killing nine and injuring more than 70 people.
The Metrorail accident, which disrupted the daily commute for thousands in the Washington area, tested how the nation’s capital would cope with a major incident. What happened was “an effective regional response,” Mr. Kaniewski said in an online commentary.
In the wake of the accident, emergency vehicles converged on the scene. “As I monitored the radio traffic of the local agencies involved, I expected to hear chaos; but instead I heard the calm and ordered dispatch of emergency units and informative reports from arriving personnel,” Kaniewski wrote.
Response teams working in unity
“When the DC resources became stretched, pre-identified units from surrounding jurisdictions were alerted and communicated on the same channel as DC units. There were no apparent coordination or communications issues … police, fire, emergency medical services, transit, and emergency management officials worked together in a unified manner,” the homeland security expert said.
There were, however, some ruffled feelings along the way… (To read the rest of the story, including comments on the Mayor’s interventions and implications for crisis communications policy and training, please access the Christian Science Monitor. Web-based media need all the clicks they deserve and can get.)
