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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on June 10, 2009 at 1:52pm

Travis, Train? Bro, we have and continue to be trained and stand ready every day to meet the demands of what calls come our way little or massive. The thought that we should be trained comes from the media or community. It is thought that we should be trained because in fact the communities we represent or protect in fact arnt self ready or trained. They think that when the big one happens that they will be ok if we are trained. In fact we will be overwhelmed and prioritize what we do. If they are to be cared for or immediately provided for it will be because they look after one another or help each other. So, are we trained? HECK YES! Are our communities trained? Nope, not on a good day. However, should we stop trying to remind them or educate them. HECK NO!. So, to answer your question, we train every day to respond to the little and big calls. That is what your gonna see day in and day out. Those responses prepare you to respond to the big calls and multiagency responses. Know your role in your Community, region, County and State. Thats the answer to your question Bro.

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Permalink Reply by Kendra Eastwood on June 20, 2009 at 2:02pm

I live in a small town in Virginia. We are a combination department with 6 fire engineers and 25 volunteer firefighters. I am one of the firefighters. I think most of the members of my department feel that "it can't or won't happen here" We don't really prepare for major disasters or incidents. Yes we are trained in ICS and NIMS but there is just a big carefree attitude about it. I have attended training in Alliston, Alabama at the Center for Domestic Preparedness 6 times. The training there is some of the best in the country. Some members of my department feel that i'm wasting my time going for the training at the CDP. They say that I will never use my training where I live because nothing will happen in our town.
So, no I don't feel that my community or public safety department(police, fire & rescue) is prepared for a huge disaster of any kind. I hope it never happens in my town but it very well could. I am ready but I can't speak for the leaders in my community or the public safety department.

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Permalink Reply by Padre Pete on June 20, 2009 at 2:53pm

Yes.

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Permalink Reply by Trainer on June 20, 2009 at 5:10pm

Interesting though, I'll say no, and will guess no matter how much you train, nobody is. Manmade or natural you can never be fully prepared for “it” to happen, your only hope is the ones outside the devastation are, they are the ones that will save you ass. This is why Illinois has MABAS where one call gets it all and has proven itself time after time. Now don’t go throwing stones at me but take a good look….if your city is wiped out you won’t have the resources or manpower. I take great comfort in knowing that once the call is made within an hour I will have everything I need. Don’t take this as a reason for us to not train; we do it for the town/city 3 or 300 miles away because I know we can’t handle if “it” hits us, anyone that thinks they can is a fool.

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Permalink Reply by Kenneth Holley on June 20, 2009 at 8:45pm

Are we ready? A little better than a year and a half ago. A tornado just went by our headquarters station. It took out or broke 5 bay doors, collapsed half of the side engine room wall and caused lots of minor damage to the station. Lots of damage to the surrounding area. Thankfully no one was injured or killed. But there were 5 of us ( me including) who were at the station when it happened. It's something i will never forget or want to go through again. It took almost a year to get everything back to normal. Are we ready? I hope so.

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