A 9-1-1 Call...From Afghanistan?

The average day for Cumberland County dispatchers is anything but average!  Each call has the potential for presenting a unique set of circumstances that will challenge the dispatcher to think outside of the box.  Most of these situations go unknown to the public, but today we want to highlight one of those recent unique calls! 

It is not uncommon for dispatchers to receive calls from individuals in other states.  Individuals may call about a loved one they cannot get a hold of in the area and or may have been on the phone when someone experienced a medical emergency in this area.  What is uncommon is a dispatcher taking a call involving someone in Afghanistan reporting an emergency!

In January a Cumberland County Dispatcher 15 took a call from an individual that stated a friend currently deployed to Afghanistan had contacted her via Skype reporting that his wife in South Carolina was in distress.  The deployed individual was utilizing a web camera to contact his wife and through the web camera found his wife lying unresponsive on the floor of their home in Richland County, South Carolina.  Upon seeing this, he immediately contacted a friend in Cumberland County on Skype and asked them to get help.  Not knowing who to call, the individual here in Cumberland County dialed 9-1-1.  Dispatcher 15 answered and the caller explained the situation.  The dispatcher was able to get an address for the unresponsive person and utilized the technology available to him and did an internet search for a number for Richland County, South Carolina 9-1-1. The dispatcher made numerous attempts to contact the number found, but each time a recording stated that the line had been disconnected.  Persistence prevailed, as Dispatcher 15 continued his search for a number to report the medical emergency and he was able to locate the number for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.  Upon contacting the number, the Sheriff’s Department was able to transfer Dispatcher 15 to the Richland County 9-1-1 center and he then requested an ambulance to the location.  The dispatcher was then able get in touch with the original caller to get a message to Afghanistan via Skype that an ambulance was in route.  Like with so many calls, Dispatcher 15 does not know the ultimate outcome for the patient in South Carolina.  They often never know the result, but at the end of the day, someone needed help and the dispatcher got them the help they needed!

Morale of this story… Technology is constantly changing the methods in which emergencies are reported to our dispatchers.  This means Cumberland County dispatchers must constantly change as well.  It isn’t enough to keep up their long list of certifications, but they must be very aware of the changing world around them and how it is going to impact their ability to help someone in an emergency situation.   

Intern Insight- Week 5

Another productive and fun filled week here at the Department of Public Safety! To start off my week I went to an Agricultural Subcommittee meeting at HACC. At this meeting there were discussions about how the county would handle decontamination of animals, whether domestic or agricultural, during hazardous situations. As well as how these animals would be transported, sheltered, and handled. It can be extremely dangerous handling animals such as cows and horses when they are frightened. This is why the committee discussed training exercises that teach individuals how to properly care for them in these situations. After the meeting, I came back to the EOC and began to work on my FEMA NIMS courses. These NIMS ( National Incident Management System) courses cover preparedness, communications and information management, resource management, and command and management within FEMA as well as outlines the responsibilities and activities that are consistent with the National Training Program. At the end of each course, I take a final exam and receive a certificate if I pass.

The rest of the week I began to update the Dam Emergency Action Plan checklists for the 9-1-1 Communications Center. These checklists contain individuals and numbers of each facility that they need to contact in a specific order if there were to be an emergency regarding the dams. The checklists make it easier for the dispatchers to get a hold of everyone much quicker instead of having to search for the numbers themselves. When it comes to emergencies, time is crucial. Thursday, I attended a Cumberland County Commissioners meeting at the court house and was able to watch the Board of Commissioners present one of our dispatchers, Jon Anschutz, with the blue stork pin. The Stork Pin identifies those dispatchers who have assisted in the delivery of a baby by providing pre-arrival instructions. You can read that story by going to Cumberland County’s Facebook page and following the article link. Overall, I continue to enjoy my time here and experience new things each day. Each person here continues to provide me with their own advice I can leave here with that will help me in my future. The one common piece of advice I continue to hear is about the importance of relationships and networking. You never know when you may need someone you can trust or to help you with something important you’re working on. I have already met tons of individuals who have offered to help me in the future if I need anything.

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The Stork Club

February 23, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:    Megan Silverstrim, Cumberland County

                      

Cumberland County Commissioners

Recognize 9-1-1 Dispatchers Efforts

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania– Cumberland County Dispatcher Jon Anschutz was recognized today by the Board of Commissioners during their regular workshop meeting.  In December, Anschutz took a 9-1-1 call from an individual in North Newton Township reporting a woman in labor.  Anschutz provided pre-arrival instructions to the caller which resulted in the delivery of a healthy baby boy prior to the arrival of an ambulance.

It is required of all Cumberland County Dispatchers to achieve and maintain Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) certification.  EMD provides dispatchers with a specialized skill set that allows them provide lifesaving pre-arrival medical instructions and activate the appropriate emergency responses.  Initial EMD certification is achieved through a twenty four hour course.  To maintain their certification dispatchers must sustain CPR certification, pass quality assurance reviews, complete twenty four hours of continuing education and pass a test every two years.

Anschutz was presented with a blue stork pin during his recognition and he has been added to the Stork Club.  The Stork Club identifies those dispatchers that have assisted in the delivery of a baby by providing pre-arrival instructions.  To date 17 Cumberland County dispatchers have joined the ranks of the Stork Club, delivering 19 babies, since its creation nearly 20 years ago.

   

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Intern Insight Week 4

This week has basically been a continuance of the last couple of weeks. As I’ve mentioned before, Emergency Management is all about being able to successfully multi-task. As of now, I am continuing to make phone calls to each of the municipalities within the county in order to acquire their emergency management information for when it comes to debris management. A common problem that occurs is that individuals do not take this type of situation or information seriously until a disaster/storm hits and the problem actually occurs. That is why the Department of Public Safety strives to make sure they have plans in place for these types of situations and can handle it accordingly and quickly. Remember, “Failing to plan; is planning to fail.”

            Not only am I making phone calls, but I am also going through and updating each emergency checklist for the counties Dam Emergency Action Plans. These specific dams are categorized into hazard levels and helps to determine which ones are more at risk than others when storms occur. The checklists that the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) follow are extremely important and list who needs to be contacted and in what order to contact them. The phone numbers and other contact information need to be as up-to-date as possible or it could slow down the process when an emergency occurs and put towns and citizens in danger. I never actually realized just how important the “little things” are when it comes to planning until I started to intern here. I don’t think people realize just how important the Department of Public Safety is and what each person here goes through on a daily basis to make sure the counties residents are safe. 

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Intern Insight Week 3

Finishing up my third week here at the Department of Public Safety and I have just about finished my weather exercise project.  When I arrived here the first day my internship supervisor game me my intern binder which was filled with a wide variety of projects that I could complete during my 180 hours here.  After finishing the task of sending out mailing to multiple establishments in regards to their emergency management, it was time for me to start an emergency debris management project.  This project involves me helping the department form an emergency debris management plan and helps me to understand just how important and crucial debris management can possibly be.  Look back to 2011 when Tropical Storm Lee hit Pennsylvania and the damage it did.   The Susquehanna River reached a record high of around 40 feet and destroyed bridges and anything else in its path.  With this came enormous amounts of storm debris and left the counties figuring out how to dispose of it all.  We now with the information of an emergency debris management plan these problems and concerns will be a thing of the past and everyone will be prepared for the worst.  I am starting this project right now by calling each municipality office within the county and acquiring any information that will be of help in forming this plan.  That includes waste disposal services, contact information, etc.

On Tuesday this week I attended a Safe Schools meeting with Eric Hoerner and it allowed me to see just how much work goes into keeping educational facilities prepared for disasters and what their plans are.  As you can see during these first few weeks here, I have already received a small taste of what emergency management is.  From meetings with FEMA and PEMA to the Safe Schools Association and debris management, there is never a dull day here at the Department of Public Safety.  One thing I must mention is that the skill of multitasking is very important in emergency management.  Everyone here is always working on something and usually more than one project at a time.  If you are unable to multi-task, you will have a rough time in this field.  I've only been here 3 weeks and I have been introduced to a wide array of topics and have projects under each of them.  You never know what is going to be thrown at you next, but that just adds to the fun of it!

*Go to http://bit.ly/wlSeqi to learn more about the Intern Insight Series.

1 Department 15 Emergency Managers...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently announced a change in how they'll do business and how they’ll utilize their workforce. The “Every Employee is an Emergency Manager” approach has FEMA looking to transform all employees at all levels into disaster responders. This initiative, according to FEMA aims to “train and certifying the entire workforce for incident management and incident support positions in the field—to ensure we are all prepared to conduct and support FEMA’s emergency management missions.” Sounds like a great idea, and one that Cumberland County has been utilizing for years! With a much smaller budget and workforce many local governments are already using this approach when it comes to disaster response.

(Cumberland County EOC- Where 15+ staff members transform into Emergency Managers!)

To make this department operate on a daily basis we have folks in charge of a variety of tasks. Employees oversee training programs, finances, public relations, and technology just to name a few, but our employees abilities and training levels reach far beyond these specialties. Each and every employee here at DPS is trained and experienced in disaster response and management. At a moment’s notice, our staff is ready to respond to the field, man our Emergency Operations Center and work with other government agencies to organize response and recovery efforts. So while DPS staffers wear many different hats, at the end of the day we are all emergency managers ready to serve and help you when disaster strikes!


Click the link below to learn more about FEMA's "Every Employee Is An Emergency Manager" Blog!
http://blog.fema.gov/2012/02/every-employee-is-emergency-manager-and.html

Intern Insight- Week #2

I have been at the Department of Public Safety now for a total of five days and as I mentioned in my first post, I absolutely love it here. Every day seems to get better and I have been learning a lot of information very quickly. My first couple of days was information overload trying to memorize some of the common acronyms used around here. I also was trying to memorize everyone’s name, and what each room was responsible for. This week I have been working on my first project known as the “weather exercise” in the EOC. The EOC is the Emergency Operations Center and it is basically the central command of the building carrying out strategic overview of any emergency situation or disaster. I have been working on this project with Eric and Connie. Eric is the Operations & EOC Coordinator and Connie is the administrative coordinator. The weather project is being conducted to obtain feedback from multiple facilities to encourage them in participating in the statewide weather exercise that takes place on March 29th. I have also been going through multiple files determining what facilities have and do not have emergency plans on file and trying to encourage those who do not, to send us one immediately and for those who do to send us an updates to it that they may have.
Doing projects like this really allow me to see how much work actually goes into planning and preparing for emergency situations. Even menial tasks that you think are just boring and pointless all lead up to one common goal that will eventually be in place to help the citizens of Pennsylvania. Recently, I have sat in on a couple of meetings with PEMA (Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). It was a great experience being able to see a state and federal emergency management agency communicate with one another and how the state goes about getting funding for certain things. As my second week here comes to a close, I start off my third week attending a Mass Evacuation working group meeting with Eric. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me and what other acronyms I’ll be using by the end of next week. Until next week, I leave you with one of my favorite proverbs that fits well into what I have learned thus far: “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”



*Go to http://bit.ly/wlSeqi to learn more about the Intern Insight Series.