Earlier this month I was privileged to attend a meeting in Kansas City hosted by the International Association of Fire Chiefs as a member of the NRP ESF-4 sub-committee. That stands for the National Response Plan’s Emergency Service Function 4 (Firefighting), which translates into how fire service assets will be dispatched and deployed to major incidents across the country when there is a declared disaster. This sub-committee is chaired by Chief Jay Reardon, who also is president of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System in Illinois.
For almost two years the IAFC has been working diligently to provide input to the National Response Plan on several issues, including mutual aid dispatch and credentialing. Mutual aid dispatch across states is a function of EMAC, the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a document signed by the governors of all 50 states that allows one governor to ask for assistance from another, usually through the state’s emergency operations center. This state-to-state agreement is the basis for fire service mutual aid involving all non-federal firefighting assets across the country.
Starting with four core states — California, Florida, Illinois and Ohio — the IAFC has assisted 14 other states develop statewide fire service mutual aid contracts and mobilization plans. In the next three years, the IAFC hopes that number will grow to all 50 states. My sub-committee on ESF-4 soon will have a plan on how the initial four states plus the 14 newly on board will be able to be activated and respond in a timely and disciplined manner to disasters anywhere in the country.
A demonstration of this statewide mobilization recently took place in Columbus, Ohio, where under the direction of retired Chief John Preuer, more than 90 fire, EMS and police assets from 67 separate jurisdictions were marshaled into a staging area in less than 90 minutes. Units responded from as far as 75 miles from Columbus, and the demonstration included real-time tracking of each unit’s status and a live feed from the staging area to the EOC showing the apparatus as they arrived.
As fire chiefs, we need to learn the new language of mutual aid and be active in our state’s intrastate and interstate mobilization plans. The overall goal, which is still several years away, is for us to respond in a seamless, integrated manner and show up with the right equipment and the properly trained, credentialed crews. More on the mutual aid primer can be found on the IAFC Web site.
So today’s question is simple. Tell me what your state is doing to ensure it is ready for large-scale emergencies within your borders and beyond to neighboring states or across the country. Are you familiar with the EMAC and how it affects your role in your state? Drop me a line as it will help our NRP ESF-4 sub-committee when we meet next in August.
June 24th, 2007 @ 11:53 am
All of 21 counties have mutual aid coordinators. Their function slightly varies, but for the most part they assist the IC in obtaining outside resources, whether it’s to the incident scene or station cover. Some counties have it set up that if more than two units cross over into another county, that county’s mutual aid coordinator goes with them.
July 7th, 2007 @ 12:23 am
Has ESF 4 worked with Transportation (ESF 1) to have a means of moving men and equipment in a timely manner?
During Katrina response, the Northern Virginia Task Force drove relief crews to Mississippi from Virginia, requiring close to 24 hours on the road, one way. This resulted in a three-day relief process, not to mention the cost of a bus for three days with extra drivers.
Perhaps an agreement could be worked out for relief crews to be flown to the area and relieve each other quicker.