wouldnt it be smart....

[nnjfire]

if fema and or the the nat fire admin started organizing the rescue/recovery efforts that are obivously going to be needed? So many crews are still in LO and MI. how many more people are they going to need and how much longer can these crews last down there. This just turned from horrible to unimaginable with the oncoming of rita. and to clarify i am NOT talking about bull**** fema work. Im talking search and rescue and fire suppression

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

I just watched a press conference with the TX governor. He has requested and recieved (apparently) DOD assistance with the evacuation as well as in staging 10,000 troops to respond to the aftermath. His rundown on fire and rescue efforts listed nothing but TX assets.

FEMA cannot do anything until they are requested to do something. Same as the last time.

And not for nuthin', my guess would be that TX has it just a little bit more on the ball than LA or MS.

[dmleblanc]

And not for nuthin', my guess would be that TX has it just a little bit more on the ball than LA or MS.

Hey, I resent that insinuation.........


....of course, I completely agree with it, but still....

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

Hey, I resent that insinuation.........


....of course, I completely agree with it, but still....

Of course, you understand that I am talking about administration types and not the brothers and sisters in the trenches, right?

[nnjfire]

So i guess the Army and navy, marines etc etc should just take care of things. Glad ive gone through all this training. Should of joined the armed services i guess instead.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

No, you should take a class or two on Emergency Management and understand how the proper management of an incident like this is accomplished.

[spearsm]

Hey, I resent that insinuation.........


....of course, I completely agree with it, but still....

Yeah, what he said!

[spearsm]

Of course, you understand that I am talking about administration types and not the brothers and sisters in the trenches, right?

Aw you know, George. You are absofrigginlutely correct.

With what Texas has seen happen in the neigboring states during the Katrina effect, I hope that this has served as a key learning (as it does appear to have) event that has opened some eyes and closed some other's mouths.

[nnjfire]

No, you should take a class or two on Emergency Management and understand how the proper management of an incident like this is accomplished.

HAHAHAHA.....AH yes the wonderful job our OEM's did in responding to this incident. I am not getting into a political arguement. But no offense. The fire Admin, FEMA, DOD, Government at both National, state, and local levels, The president, The entire country....SHOULD BE ASHAMED. This was not the fall of one person (meaning FEMA head) this was a chain of events started a long time ago.

SO i will ask you this....since apparently you do know the proper management of an incident like this. How do you feel this next one will be accomplished? Better? worse? or in between. Because excuse me for the attitude. but how many people have to suffer and die because this god damn country is too proud of its emergency management system. proud of its communication systems within that manangement that FAIL or have serious flaws during every serious diasaster. The breakdown in communications. The breakdown of the chain of command. The breakdown of self dispatch and maybe even the lack there of. I FULLY UNDERSTAND YOUR OPINION AND EVEN BACK IT UP. This is merely my frustration and maybe a different way of looking at it.

But i do stand by my statement. This country is too proud of its laws, of its OEM's, of the systems it has in place that FAIL time and time again..... to let its own people help its own people. There must be a certain sense of order, and a plan if you will. Well no offense....there was no plan. There was no plan set in place for an event such as 9/11. There was no plan for a hurricane of this magnatude. And guess what....There is no plan for whatever shall happen next. Be it a terrorist attack, natural diasaster, etc etc

Sorry just sharing my somewhat, altered view after this event.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

HAHAHAHA.....AH yes the wonderful job our OEM's did in responding to this incident. I am not getting into a political arguement. But no offense. The fire Admin, FEMA, DOD, Government at both National, state, and local levels, The president, The entire country....SHOULD BE ASHAMED. This was not the fall of one person (meaning FEMA head) this was a chain of events started a long time ago.

SO i will ask you this....since apparently you do know the proper management of an incident like this. How do you feel this next one will be accomplished? Better? worse? or in between. Because excuse me for the attitude. but how many people have to suffer and die because this god damn country is too proud of its emergency management system. proud of its communication systems within that manangement that FAIL or have serious flaws during every serious diasaster. The breakdown in communications. The breakdown of the chain of command. The breakdown of self dispatch and maybe even the lack there of. I FULLY UNDERSTAND YOUR OPINION AND EVEN BACK IT UP. This is merely my frustration and maybe a different way of looking at it.

But i do stand by my statement. This country is too proud of its laws, of its OEM's, of the systems it has in place that FAIL time and time again..... to let its own people help its own people. There must be a certain sense of order, and a plan if you will. Well no offense....there was no plan. There was no plan set in place for an event such as 9/11. There was no plan for a hurricane of this magnatude. And guess what....There is no plan for whatever shall happen next. Be it a terrorist attack, natural diasaster, etc etc

Sorry just sharing my somewhat, altered view after this event.

Not taking the bait.

Good bye

[nnjfire]

Not taking the bait.

Good bye

bait? no....a discussion. yes.

And no....im not "that guy" I sat home and waited for a proper dispatch. Like i said i fully understand the value behind following the chain of commaned and our emergency management systems. As i do every day. But can you honestly say we are ever prepared for some things such as these? I guess the truth is that we cannot prepare ....i dont know. sorry if i came off as attacking you

[pete892]

Along with 31 years in the fire-rescue business, I have worked in emergency management since 1967 (before many of you were born). I currently am the deputy EM director for my county which has a nuclear power plant. We exercise for the plant every other year and are graded by FEMA on OUR performance.

All planning is local. All first response is local. You only get from FEMA those items you specifically request. Don't just ask for help.

FEMA is not a first responder type agency. They do not have vehicles with red lights and sirens. They have very few employees. FEMA is basicaly a "coordination" agency for federal resources.

I have done a number of FEMA disaster grants for windstorms, tornados and snow storms. All have been successful. FEMA is very good at providing funds to cover excessive overtime in disasters and in the rebuilding process, but, again, they are not first responders.

Emergency management at all levels of government is more of a step child than fire protection. Let's hope that this hurricane season will cause everyone to review their local plans, consider all the what if's and train for their local area.

Stay safe,

Pete

[lvwrench]

Just a side note. Have been watching the evacuation of the gulf asrea in texas and they have a 100 mile line up of people trying to get out and the airport is booked solid. People on the highways running out of gas and some have turned back to home. Here's another fine mess. How about a major earthquake in California and some major tornadoes in the middle part of the country and then we can all go crazy.

[DennisTheMenace]

Anyone that has watched the news would see that all possibile government agencies are already involved in getting ready for Rita. This thread is therefore kind of pointless.

[CJMinick390]

For what it is worth, FEMA has prepositioned elements of at least 10 of the 28 Federal USAR teams in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They are to be in place and ready to deploy where needed by the end of today. Keep in mind that they cannot by law do anything until specifically asked for by the governor.

[sevenfingers]

Right on Chris. Just like we teach in Scouts...."Be Prepared". This responsibility is first with the individual citizen, just like we teach them in our communities. Meaning the first actions are up to them...it's also how we get notified. Then comes Local/State procedures, then the Fed may also be involved. If we research the inception of the US&R Task Forces (ESF-9), we'll see they came about largely due to large scale events like Hurricanes (one example). It's been an admirable effort at all levels. The Federal response in Katrina and Rita has been outstanding, unless one's only source of "news" is the anti-Administration TV network of talking heads. Much noise has been espoused over airways, and they would rally the nay-sayers at any photo-opportunity. But if one kept up with their own Emergency Service "Industry", one would know that the Fed had assets in place before Katrina visited her 21 State tour, damaging 14 in the process. Yes, one community largely stole the "Press" during early Operational phases, actually revealing the difficulty of getting frontline Officials to work with the Fed people. If any problems in a Federal Response are identified (during any Review), I'm sure they'll be addressed. I'm not aware of any, but we do need to do a PIA just we do on every Fire...right??? Yeah, I know what we really do. Anyway, any Plan, evacuation, response, or demobilization will demand of us to review and adjust. Making noise and pointing fingers has but one value....and that is to get people away from danger, not interfere with the work.

My Department never would allow participation in the US&R program. Now, we have a crew doing the FEMA Community Relations task (my State does this also on a State level), and a crew/MICU now in Galveston. So I'm glad we're doing something.