The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
State EMA, a joke or a good deal
With every policital issue there seems to be controversy. When times are good, or theres a job well done, there is never a shortage of people willing to toot their own horn. When the crap hits the fan, they are all lined up to find a scapegoat to pin the blame on. The States EMA should be in charge of getting funding for the fire departments, rescue services, and Police departments of your state. It always seems when the emergency happens (natural, or manmade) if there are going to be cameras around, they are there, but when a community is suffering from flooding (some of the worse in years) the governor is reluctant to declare a state of emergency to help get funding for the equipment and fuel. I personally feel that every department (fire police and ems) should have a laison to the states EMA. This will ensure that the people who will be running the show during a disaster are all on the same page, fully trained, and equipped to get the job done.
Does your states EMA run along the same grounds? Are there issues like I have explained above? Does it always seem to be politics over principle? Does your states EMA directly affect your fire department? Do they mandate any specific training? (ICS 100,200,700,800 for non officer) What can we do as responders to fix the flaws, and establish a better communications line with the EMA?
Does your states EMA run along the same grounds? Are there issues like I have explained above? Does it always seem to be politics over principle? Does your states EMA directly affect your fire department? Do they mandate any specific training? (ICS 100,200,700,800 for non officer) What can we do as responders to fix the flaws, and establish a better communications line with the EMA?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by ILDisasterEMT on
-
Here in Illinois, we are considered to be pretty good with emergency skills, training and management. One of the top in the country. I work with the Illinois Medical Emergency Respone Team which is under the Department of Public Health and we have alot of contact with IEMA. Also here we have huge (50k sqft) Emergency Operations Center.
As for ICS...I think every body that picks up a hose, or treats a patient to have ICS 100-800. There really is no excuse not to. They are free after all.
-
Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
-
Ed, Thats a great account of ICS working wonders with your states EMA. Here not that long ago (this winter) we had that major ice storm. The governor was on vacation when this hit. Corporations all determined to allow all their employee's to leave at once (of course the storm had been full blast for quite some time now) Needless to say there was major gridlock on the interstates. (6 hours or more) The plows who were hired to sand and remove the ice were gridlocked in the same traffic unable to move. Needless to say the General who should have been in charge was MIA so the director of EMA made the calls. His head was the one who rolled in the end. (though it was entirely not his fault) He was the victim of circumstance.
On a second occasion the flood I was referring to. We pumped 126 basements in less than 24 hours, and pumped 2 major roads (literally) that were flooded over for 7 hours. We were told to document everything (yes we had unified command, even the town was involved in the command) and our expenses would be reimbursed. When the flooding subsided a few days later, we tallied the bills for fuel, food, drinks, some equipment (more pumps to keep up with the demand) sandbags, town overtime (24 straight hours) Police officers (traffic) (we didnt add the money the firefighter who are volunteers lost at their jobs that day) and we were well into the thousands of dollars, all of which was promised to be reimbursed. Again the governor didn't declare a State of Emergency so no compensation was allowed even though we were promised through a local EMA representative.
As with everything the political side always seems to get in the way. I wish we had a system more like you had with representatives from EMA who are willing to work, not just hold a fancy rank, get paid a lot of money, and do absolutely nothing.
-
Permalink Reply by mike wright on
-
Here we are making the command staff take ics 400 and the EMA is requiered to take 200. All the other emergency services take the ics but i do not know how far. We all are on the same page when it comes to the ic situation.
-
-
Actually, command staff will likely to be required to take up to 800 and beyond. Im not sure in what state EMA staffers would only be required to take up to 200. Here in Illinois, people working down state are having to take A LOT more than 800. Though there may be some who disagree with this if you are from Illinois, but Illinois is considered to be one of the top 5 most prepared states in the country for a disaster/MCI. Mostly thats because we have a governor who, whatever anyone else things of him, realizes that once the disaster takes place, its WAYYYYYYYYYY too late to start throwing money at it. Thats why if you are ever in Springfield, you should take a look at the Illinois EOC. Its pretty much considered to be the model for EOCs from this point on. 50,000 square feet of the best training and technology money can guy and its chocked full of people who are the best at what they do. Too often, emergency responders think,"ah, this ICS thing is just a pain in the butt, Ill do the bare minimum to get my certificate so I can say I did it and thats good enough. But then you get in the field and find you just wasted time by only putting in a half-hearted effort
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
