CHP incident command vehicle pics

[weathermedic]

CHP - Incident Command Vehicle Gallery

[R1VINCE]

I would have never thought that the CHP would have enough "incident" to constitute a command vehicle. Most of their "incidents", i would think, end in a city that has its own command vehicle, at least where i live.

...then again, with such a nice vehicle to command with, i would think they would have at least gotten a UNIVERSAL remote, instead of 4...

...oh well-my tax dollars..

...just my 2 cents.

[DieselFF918]

Wow! I am surprise that thing doesnt drag its rear end with al that in it.

[Magnetsteve]

That thing has Dish Network....Awesome.

[b7spectra]

Gotta love all them "9 Head" Astro's!

[Exsmokey]

Originally Posted by R1VINCE

I would have never thought that the CHP would have enough "incident" to constitute a command vehicle. Most of their "incidents", i would think, end in a city that has its own command vehicle, at least where i live.

...then again, with such a nice vehicle to command with, i would think they would have at least gotten a UNIVERSAL remote, instead of 4...

...oh well-my tax dollars..

...just my 2 cents.

The types of major incidents the CHP work are numerous. They frequently work large traffic accidents involving dozens of vehicles. In Mono County where I live we have had some major commercial vehicle accidents with multiple fatalities. The CHP has a special traffic accident investigation unit called "M.A.I.T." or the Major Accident Investigation Team. These investigations can be extremely complex, especially when a portion or all of a highway has to be closed for a long period.

In rural areas the resources of the CHP are often used because the counties don't have enough resources to handle the incidents that occur. The CHP may deploy many officers to assist the county during large special events, New Year's Eve, and search and rescues. CHP helicopters and fixed wing aircraft are used for SAR's and suspect searches as most rural counties don't have aviation resources.

In snow country there can be total closures of major highways that can last for hours or days. Here in the eastern Sierra I observed the closure of 395 dozens of times, for up to a few hours or more than a day. This requires close coordination between county/municipal law enforcement and public works agencies, as well as Caltrans.

I've been on a few large wildland fires that involve multiple state highways, both major and minor. Some years ago I was on a fire north of Valencia area that required the closure of I-5 between Valencia and Gorman. That involved a large contingent from the CHP who were part of the incident command organization managing the fire. These incidents involve disparate radio systems.

I've run the initial attack of some fires from the cab of my pickup. I did my best to equip it for this. It is real tough to use maps, radios, cell phones, scanners, many pieces of paper, and dry erase boards with a steering wheel in the way. The CHP command post vehicles are similar to the vehicles of most large fire department battalion chiefs, but contains a significantly larger amount of comm gear. I've ridden in the batt chief vehicles the L.A. County Fire Department uses. They have MDT's, mobile fax machines, computers, a large slide out worktable, multiple radio control heads and computers accessible from the tailgate area, as well as large slide out drawers with maps, records, and common office tools.

The intended usage of the CHP command posts is for far larger and complex incidents. They are intended to be highly mobile with quicker response times than the huge motor homes and 5th wheel trailer type command posts that a large number of local agencies have.

If you haven't worked a major incident it is difficult to imagine the incident command post equipment needs that are presented. Not having the right tool ready when it is needed adds more confusion in a situation where the overwhelming challenge is making order out of chaos. After working a fair number of incidents you see how a small detail can have a major affect on an incident. This is difficult to explain and you really need to be there to appreciate it. Think about the battle of Midway during WWII, a decisive battle that turned the tables of the war in the Pacific. A radio dial in one Japanese reconnaissance aircraft did not work, which ended up crippling the efforts of the superior Japanese naval force. This turned out to be the only reconnaissance aircraft to detect the American naval force at a key time. The radio dial prevented the crew of this aircraft from reporting the U.S. presence and strength near Midway. One radio dial contributed to a major shift in a major war. The rest is, as is often said, history.

When a government agency does not equip or prepare itself for the tasks it faces it is criticized for not having its act together. When it does equip and prepare itself for these tasks it is criticized for being extravagant and obtaining resources it really doesn't need. Damned if you don't and damned if you do, the story of a public service career.

[RolnCode3]

Originally Posted by Exsmokey

When a government agency does not equip or prepare itself for the tasks it faces it is criticized for not having its act together. When it does equip and prepare itself for these tasks it is criticized for being extravagant and obtaining resources it really doesn't need.

I think that sums it up.

[Mick]

I used to get this wrong too. Q: What does MAIT stand for?

A: The common misconception with the MAIT acronym is that MAIT stands for the Major Accident Investigation Team. MAIT actually stands for the Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team. Members of each MAIT team focus their respective expertise in one discipline of Accident Reconstruction, hence the name and make-up of multiple disciplines on one team.

CHP - Accident Investigation Unit

[Exsmokey]

Originally Posted by Mick

I used to get this wrong too. Q: What does MAIT stand for?

A: The common misconception with the MAIT acronym is that MAIT stands for the Major Accident Investigation Team. MAIT actually stands for the Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team. Members of each MAIT team focus their respective expertise in one discipline of Accident Reconstruction, hence the name and make-up of multiple disciplines on one team.

CHP - Accident Investigation Unit

Thanks for pointing that out. As soon as I read the word "Multidisciplinary" I realized my memory failed me.

[1150RT-P]

And .... they have more than one.

[R1VINCE]

Exsmokey-
thank you for a good point.
i didnt see it that way until i read your entry- as i am used to the "in-between" communications of the "big cities".
my 2 dimensional thoughts did not include the outlying areas.=)

[W9RXR]

Very nice. Where's Jack Bauer?

Note the MFJ clock stuck in the middle of all that high-end equipment.

I like the idea of these small-footprint mobile command centers. Much easier and quicker to deploy than a bus-based mobile command. Around my area, some of the fire departments have these sorts of SUV command centers for their battalion chiefs, but the police departments keep buying buses or motorhomes.

The only thing that bothers me about these back-of-vehcle incident command centers is that you pretty much have to stand while using the equipment. That can get tiring after a while. They need someplace to stow the bar stools so you can take a load off and still reach things.

[776]

when our state started their team they first called it Fatal Accident Response Team = FART . Then someone noticed what it said and change the name

776

[tekshogun]

Originally Posted by 776

when our state started their team they first called it Fatal Accident Response Team = FART . Then someone noticed what it said and change the name

776

LOL. On a serious note, not all major accidents are fatal ones. There have been those major pileups out in the foggy conditions (I think Minnesota or Indiana (one of those places) is known for this where they get hundred-car pileups in the fog and I don't think people die every time but they are certainly major incidents. But also, you may need a mobile command post to help find a fugitive recently on the run (imagine if Tommy Lee Jones had a truck like this in The Fugitive, Harrison Ford may have never had the chance to catch the real killer. Although the four remote controls may have slowed them down just as much.

As for that beautiful ICV, man, I love that setup. It is almost, a little too much though. A quite a few radios, yes, the clock, the TV, the little mini-monitors and the video players/recorders, and even what looks like a network switch (which is how the IP phone and computer gets it's functionality via the satellite or some kind of radio data modem. I love it though. Very nice.

[commstar]

Originally Posted by tekshogun

LOL. On a serious note, not all major accidents are fatal ones. There have been those major pileups out in the foggy conditions (I think Minnesota or Indiana (one of those places) is known for this where they get hundred-car pileups i

The tule fog in the San Joaquin Valley tends to be a factor and contributes to multi-vehicle crashes such as the one you outlined.

[ScannerDude244]

Originally Posted by Exsmokey

The types of major incidents the CHP work are numerous. They frequently work large traffic accidents involving dozens of vehicles. In Mono County where I live we have had some major commercial vehicle accidents with multiple fatalities. The CHP has a special traffic accident investigation unit called "M.A.I.T." or the Major Accident Investigation Team. These investigations can be extremely complex, especially when a portion or all of a highway has to be closed for a long period.

+1 for smokey when we had the tour bus crash here in Soledad few months ago that was on the biggest problems was communication between everyone. They had about 4 channels not including the fire tacs going on and had to relay through dispatch even though they were just feet away from each other.

[Exsmokey]

In May 1986 a bus crash occurred in the Walker River Canyon on U.S. 395 north of Bridgeport. Twenty two elderly people on a tour to Reno from southern California were killed when an unlicensed bus driver entered 40 mph zone at 70 mph in a double curve areas immediately adjacent to the Walker River. I believe it still holds the record the second greatest number of fatalities in a bus accident in the U.S. The bus left the roadway and flipped, slid down a 50 foot slope, and struck a very large boulder, and came to rest upside down in the river. People who had not been killed and/or injured by the crash were swept out of the bus and into the water, which was in spring runoff and very cold.

As I understand it the CHP stepped up tour bus inspections and has continued doing so to this day. I think the bus company eventually went out of business, but not immediately. They had not checked to see if the bus driver had a driver's license, which had been suspended due to past violations. I think there were some vehicle registration problems as well. U.S. 395 was closed for a period of days. The dispatch office in Bridgeport had to relay a lot of traffic and the Mono S.O. system had to be utilized. Some sort of on-scene command post type vehicle was needed on that accident and I don't think one was available at the time.

The first person on scene was a young woman (mid to late 20's) who worked on the Toiyabe National Forest helitack crew based on the the Bridgeport Ranger District where I worked at the time. She was taking a vehicle north to Reno for some major maintenance. She was an EMT and was the only person on scene for nearly 10 minutes. She was trying to stop bleeding, put on C collars, and grab people so they would not be swept out the broken windows. She did what she could but more than a dozen people were swept down the rapid filled river.

I had suffered a major traumatic experience only the month before and of course, she did as well. She tried to work for a month or so while attending counseling. She was retired on a permanent disability for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) within 3 months, thus ending her ambitions for a career in fire management, where she had planned on becoming a Fire Management Officer, possibly the first. As I recall, this had yet to be accomplished by a woman at the time. My PTSD led to a permanent disability retirement as well, although I was able to tough it out for another 13 years. In 1986 there was such a stigma about PTSD we were unable to even talk with each other during the few times we saw each other in the Forest Supervisor's office in Reno, except in very hushed tones.

Unfortunately not very much was known at the time of how to treat PTSD. This began to change just a few years later. I was involved in another trauma in 1990 when an employee I supervised was killed while trying to save 5 people who had fallen through the ice on Convict Lake just south of Mammoth. It was the most difficult experience of my career. Since then on-call critical incident stress debriefing teams have been permanently established somewhat like incident management teams have.

I bring this up here, because I don't think many people realize the impacts to people on a major incident. There are a lot of details to take care of on an incident, including initial victim identification (later confirmed by a coroner), arranging for critical stress debriefing for victims and public service employees involved, and dozens more that I won't enumerate. Until you work a major incident in the command post you can't appreciated the overwhelming crush of activity and stress placed on incident management personnel. It is not the time to have maps and other materials spread out on the hood of a vehicle while using blank sheets of paper to draw other maps and as a substitute for the needed forms. A command post vehicle, that can respond to the scene quickly is essential. The difficulties, inefficiencies, and loss of ability to handle the incident correctly. There are no "do overs" on incidents and long term effects to people, as I've explained here, can result.

[ScannerDude244]

Originally Posted by Exsmokey

In May 1986 a bus crash occurred in the Walker River Canyon on U.S. 395 north of Bridgeport. Twenty two elderly people on a tour to Reno from southern California were killed when an unlicensed bus driver entered 40 mph zone at 70 mph in a double curve areas immediately adjacent to the Walker River. I believe it still holds the record the second greatest number of fatalities in a bus accident in the U.S. The bus left the roadway and flipped, slid down a 50 foot slope, and struck a very large boulder, and came to rest upside down in the river. People who had not been killed and/or injured by the crash were swept out of the bus and into the water, which was in spring runoff and very cold.

As I understand it the CHP stepped up tour bus inspections and has continued doing so to this day. I think the bus company eventually went out of business, but not immediately. They had not checked to see if the bus driver had a driver's license, which had been suspended due to past violations. I think there were some vehicle registration problems as well. U.S. 395 was closed for a period of days. The dispatch office in Bridgeport had to relay a lot of traffic and the Mono S.O. system had to be utilized. Some sort of on-scene command post type vehicle was needed on that accident and I don't think one was available at the time.

The first person on scene was a young woman (mid to late 20's) who worked on the Toiyabe National Forest helitack crew based on the the Bridgeport Ranger District where I worked at the time. She was taking a vehicle north to Reno for some major maintenance. She was an EMT and was the only person on scene for nearly 10 minutes. She was trying to stop bleeding, put on C collars, and grab people so they would not be swept out the broken windows. She did what she could but more than a dozen people were swept down the rapid filled river.

I had suffered a major traumatic experience only the month before and of course, she did as well. She tried to work for a month or so while attending counseling. She was retired on a permanent disability for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) within 3 months, thus ending her ambitions for a career in fire management, where she had planned on becoming a Fire Management Officer, possibly the first. As I recall, this had yet to be accomplished by a woman at the time. My PTSD led to a permanent disability retirement as well, although I was able to tough it out for another 13 years. In 1986 there was such a stigma about PTSD we were unable to even talk with each other during the few times we saw each other in the Forest Supervisor's office in Reno, except in very hushed tones.

Unfortunately not very much was known at the time of how to treat PTSD. This began to change just a few years later. I was involved in another trauma in 1990 when an employee I supervised was killed while trying to save 5 people who had fallen through the ice on Convict Lake just south of Mammoth. It was the most difficult experience of my career. Since then on-call critical incident stress debriefing teams have been permanently established somewhat like incident management teams have.

I bring this up here, because I don't think many people realize the impacts to people on a major incident. There are a lot of details to take care of on an incident, including initial victim identification (later confirmed by a coroner), arranging for critical stress debriefing for victims and public service employees involved, and dozens more that I won't enumerate. Until you work a major incident in the command post you can't appreciated the overwhelming crush of activity and stress placed on incident management personnel. It is not the time to have maps and other materials spread out on the hood of a vehicle while using blank sheets of paper to draw other maps and as a substitute for the needed forms. A command post vehicle, that can respond to the scene quickly is essential. The difficulties, inefficiencies, and loss of ability to handle the incident correctly. There are no "do overs" on incidents and long term effects to people, as I've explained here, can result.

Here is the video on just what your talking about PTSD. Soledad Fire chief

Video

YouTube - Emergency Personnel Describe Response To 'Mass Casualty' Inc

Cal trans is still working on the bridge as I type this.

[Exsmokey]

Originally Posted by ScannerDude244

Here is the video on just what your talking about PTSD. Soledad Fire chief

Video

YouTube - Emergency Personnel Describe Response To 'Mass Casualty' Inc

Cal trans is still working on the bridge as I type this.

A couple of correction to my error ridden post above. The woman I spoke about had the ambition to be the first female Fire Management Officer in the U.S. Forest Service. After the Convict Lake accident the Forest Service send a critical stress debriefing team to our ranger district. They were very good and we could not have handled the situation without them. Although this incident was tough for me and everyone else no one, including the employee's wife and kids, suffered from PTSD. In the last paragraph there was an incomplete sentence. I meant to say that the difficulties, inefficiencies, and loss of ability to handle the situation correctly cannot always be corrected later, thus the comment no "do overs." Often some of these problems are quite a matter of discussion if the incident results in litigation.

Thanks for the links. You are very perceptive to pick up on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder portion of the discussion in those videos even though the words were not mentioned. I hope all of those involved were given the opportunity to get as much counseling as necessary for them at no cost to them. The videos not only show a bit on PTSD, but show what a major accident scene looks like too. Investigation takes a long time and trying to work out of normal, day to day type vehicles is tough.

For the first time I looked up Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on YouTube. Here, for those who are interested is a link with videos on the subject:

YouTube - post traumatic stress disorder

I hope that people who have read this thread have gained an appreciation of the need for command post type vehicles. In addition, I hope I have conveyed a sense of the impacts an incident can have on people's lives, including some that are permanent. PTSD can lead, quite often, to major physical illnesses, some of those fatal. PTSD is a very serious and real condition. You can go through life handling what comes your way and come out the better for most of it, even when some of it is very nasty. Then something comes along, something unusual perhaps, and it rocks you to the core. For me personally I'm coming through it for the better, but it has taken a very long time.

The average length of a paramedic's career in a large city is ten years or less. The accumulated stress is destructive, even if PTSD is not involved. There are more stress and PTSD retirements than people realize. I know two retired paramedics here in Mammoth, one from New York city, and one from L.A., who retired at ten years. They both knew the ten year statistic well and acknowledged that it is quite well known in the EMS professions. The New York paramedic left EMS and later went through a major trauma during his second career, causing him to quit that one due to PTSD. I can definitely sympathize with emergency workers who face things that are real tough, that challenge their ability to cope.

I hijacked this thread a bit, but the subject of command post vehicles got me to thinking about major incidents and the dramatic effect they can sometimes have on large numbers of people.

[tneff]

Great pics of the rig, for a noob it is quite impressive. The follow up discussions are impressive , as well as educational. Thanks to you guys for being so detailed, has been a nice read.