The City of Tampa sits on a peninsula on the west coast of Florida. At the southern tip of that peninsula is MacDill Air Force Base, a community of nearly 3,000 people. The military facility and the city have enjoyed close mutually supportive relations since the base opened in 1941.
MacDill is home to two special military commands, U.S. Central Command and the U.S. Special Operations Command. Since the war on terror began, MacDill's importance to the nation and the world has been amplified as these two agencies are the lead in coordinating the effort to combat terror around the globe.
During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the USCENTCOM coordinated coalition forces in the liberation Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. The USCENTCOM commander in chief during that operation was General H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. Today, USCENTCOM is coordinating coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. USSOCOM leads, plans, synchronizes and executes global operations against terrorist networks. MacDill is also home to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hurricane hunter aircraft fleet as well as a squadron of air-to-air refueling tankers.
MacDill and the City of Tampa have conducted mutual aid and mass-casualty exercises together. Man-made and weather-related incidents require the air base fire department and Tampa Fire Rescue to work together to protect the community. In addition to the typical mutual aid pacts, the air base fire department and Tampa Fire Rescue have a program in place to "exchange" personnel for training purposes. MacDill firefighters work on Tampa fire apparatus to gain practical experience at a variety of emergency scenes. This is not just a ride-along program; the MacDill firefighters bring along their bunker gear and work as members of the Tampa crews.
The local connection with aiding military training goes beyond the fences of MacDill. For nearly a decade, Tampa Fire Rescue and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue have worked with local trauma centers to train military Special Forces medics. These medics receive their classroom training from military instructors, then spend several weeks on rotations between the rescue cars and the trauma centers obtaining practical experience. The Special Forces medics then return to their home base for final testing and certification. Those that pass the training courses then go on to support missions throughout around the globe.
"Golden Spear"
Because of this long history of mutual help and support, Tampa Fire Rescue and the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center (HCEOC) were approached with a unique request. USCENTCOM is responsible for United States security interests in 25 nations from the horn of Africa through the Arabian Gulf region and into central Asia. One of USCENTCOM's goals is to assist these countries in improving their ability to deal with man-made and natural disasters. These are the types of disasters that would quickly challenge and overload their limited resources and capabilities. The program, dubbed "Golden Spear" by USCENTCOM, is an effort to get neighboring African countries communicating and exchanging ideas so they may be aware of their nearby countries' resources as well as limitations as they relate to disaster response and mitigation.
The concept behind Golden Spear allows CENTCOM to act as a clearing house and central repository for these identified countries to obtain information and training. The U.S. government working in conjunction with USCENTCOM has procured a facility, a house and property in Nairobi, Kenya, named the "Center of Excellence." Two to three times each year, participating countries have the opportunity to send representatives to the Center of Excellence to receive training and obtain information specific to their own needs. The representatives then take their lessons back to their respective countries so they may begin their own training regimens.
Participating countries were questioned as to what training and information they wanted from the United States. Based on the information received, USCENTCOM in 2005 arranged for a contingent of high-ranking personnel from the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, Tampa Port Authority and Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center to share information at the Center of Excellence. The topic in 2005 was airport and seaport safety and security.
In 2006, the nations benefiting from Golden Spear requested briefings on the incident management system (IMS) and urban search and rescue (USAR). Selected to represent the HCEOC was Pete Dabrowski, who currently serves as logistics chief and emergency planner. His resume in both a military career and civilian emergency management is extensive. He has conducted hundreds of emergency planning tabletop and practical exercises. Tampa Fire Rescue sent Rescue Chief Nick LoCicero. In addition to the experience he gained in two decades in the fire service, LoCicero is a member of the Tampa Bay Regional Urban Search and Rescue Team, Florida Task Force 3.
The Challenges
The trip from Florida to Kenya took about 20 hours on a civilian aircraft. Kenya is in eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Tanzania. Once the team was on the ground in the Kenyan capital city of Nairobi, it was obvious the infrastructure was fragile and the road systems were treacherous. Thankfully, the team had a Kenyan driver assigned to shuttle it around. LoCicero noted, "During our rides around town, one thing became clear very quickly - lanes, street signs and traffic lights are merely suggestions."
In Nairobi, LoCicero gauged the challenges confronting the emergency services there. The city has a population of about 2.35 million. To serve the populace, the emergency service has three fire stations with the main station being built in 1907. Its fleet consists of three fire engines, various older-model trucks and 10 ambulances. The medical hospitals only have about 16 intensive-care beds.
This region has seen significant terrorist-type activity. On Aug. 7, 1998, more than 220 people were killed and 4,000 wounded when simultaneous car bombs exploded in Nairobi and the capital city Dar es Salaam in neighboring Tanzania. A construction accident in January 2006 caused a structural collapse in Nairobi, killing 14 people and injuring 90 others. On the day of the collapse, CNN reported, "The crowd of tens of thousands made it difficult for rescue services to get through to the building with heavy lifting equipment."
As part of his assessment, LoCicero went to the site of the collapse to learn more. Information relayed to the chief during his visit to the site indicated there was no IMS or triage system used during the incident. Another report stated, "There were dramatic scenes as dozens of rescuers dug into the rubble with their bare hands while the injured were taken to hospitals in cars and ambulances. The hand of one trapped person could be seen waving from under a concrete beam." All indications were that the scene deteriorated into one big spontaneous bystander rescue that led to everyone climbing on the rubble pile at one time. Eyewitness accounts and reports seem to indicate that some of the trapped may have died needlessly due to a lack of coordinated rescue effort. While LoCicero was at the site, another body was pulled from the rubble. Nearly four months after the collapse, the scene had yet to be cleared.
The Briefings
The countries of Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Seychelles, Egypt, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania all sent representatives to the Center of Excellence in hopes of learning more about IMS and USAR. Several U.S. embassies from the area also sent delegates. For three days, the basics of IMS and USAR techniques were imparted to those in attendance. The class met in a small classroom built at the Center of Excellence. Dabrowski briefed the attendees on the basics of incident command.
"Essentially, the message we were trying to get across was the need for someone to be in charge," Dabrowski said. "Our briefings focused on the essentials in the FEMA ICS-100 class. Since most of those in attendance were retired military men from their respective countries, they understood the concept of a staff system." To reinforce their learning, the students were provided copies of the Florida Field Operations Guide, along with Hillsborough County's Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan and Disaster Planning Guides for Businesses.
LoCicero then provided a briefing on USAR fundamentals. He covered such topics as how to size-up a scene, search procedures and safe rescue techniques. The presenters went out of their way to make sure they did not seem as if they were "preaching from on high" and make it seem that responders in the United States think they "do everything right and have all the right answers," he said. Instead, it was important to stress the need for cooperation in learning and understandings of the basics. The delegates from the various countries know the task ahead of them is hard but they also know their systems and they want to get something started.
After the formal presentations, there were extensive question-and-answer periods so the participants could relate the information to their specific needs. During these informal periods and at breaks, the conversations almost consistently turned to what these various countries can do with so few assets. The governments lack people, equipment and the organization skills to get the job done during an emergency, so Dabrowski suggested "using volunteers and training the citizenry to be helpful and more organized during emergencies." This brainstorming brought up the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training that is conducted throughout the United States. CERT empowers local residents to help themselves and their neighbors when disasters strike. Dabrowski suggested a more detailed presentation on CERT training may be beneficial in future briefings planned for the Center of Excellence.
Real-World Experience
While the IMS/USAR briefings were occurring, Kenya was besieged with heavy rainfall. This deluge was coming on the heels of a severe drought. Not far from Nairobi, the heavy rains caused fast-moving water to flow down the mountainsides. This swift water razed more than 200 houses from their foundations. The government, augmented by the Kenyan army, started search efforts immediately. LoCicero was transported to the scene of the disaster and asked for his input to help with the search and rescue efforts. Using techniques learned during deployments with the Tampa Bay USAR, Florida Task Force 3, LoCicero's guidance allowed the Kenyan's government efforts to be more organized and coordinated. Unfortunately, LoCicero's time on-scene was limited. This real-world exercise in incident management allowed the struggling rescuers to better utilize their limited personnel and minimal resources. LoCicero stated this experience showed him how truly lucky we are to be Americans. "Beyond any doubt," he said, "we do not know how good we've got it here."
Conclusion
The nations involved with the training provided at the Center of Excellence are truly faced with an overwhelming task when it comes to managing an emergency scene. They have few resources. What the responders in these countries do have is the same desire and willingness to serve their fellow citizens that is found in the American firefighter.
Pete Dabrowski summarized the effort by noting, "The representatives who attended this workshop are dedicated patriots who are trying to improve the lives of their countrymen but they can't do it alone. They have a daunting task ahead of them."
BILL WADE is a captain with Tampa, FL, Fire Rescue, currently serving as the department's public information officer. He has spent more than 30 years in the emergency services. In addition to being a firefighter and paramedic, Wade also has served on the hazardous material team, the tactical medical response team and worked as part-time faculty in the EMS programs at the local community college. He has an associate's degree in EMS and bachelor's degree in education from the University of South Florida.
