Disaster Preparedness

[joetnymedic]

The recent incidents in MA with the tornados got me to thinking and I've been reading around about things. What type of notifications do we have for Tornados and other disasters here in CT and would the average "JOE" (no pun intended) know what to do? I've read that some towns have siren systems similiar to what we used in the FD and EMS when I lived in Sleepy Hollow, NY, but I also read that they aren't tested regularly and that alot were broken and parts were unavailable. Then there's reverse 911. In one case I read that it was actually quite effective, yet I know in my area, most people don't use landlines and they are so worried about their privacy they don't register their cell phones with the city. How do you notify these people the "big one" is coming to take shelter in that case? Unless they are glued to the TV, I think it would be pretty hard and that they won't know something is up until we get hit. The other thing is, who responds? Do they have to actually be requested or is it an automatic response? Is there an actual plan in place? Then there's the other issue, As seen in MA, most of their phones and power got knocked out, so that form of communication was pretty much rendered useless. What if the repeaters go down? Yes, you can use radios on simplex, but thats not going to cover a great distance and the higher the frequency you're on the shorter the covered distance will be. My gut feeling says the PD's would be the most likely to notify and request help if their systems aren't too damaged, as they have the low band state hotline system in place. Intercity Fire on VHF high might also be useful. My thing is, what's the plan and is there a backup, and I know this sounds like overkill, but is there a backup to the backup? The other issue I have which doesn't really belong on a radio board, but I'm putting this out there because a number of us that are here are pd, fire, ems as well as folks like myself who are retired out of those services, is training. We do mock drills for car crashes, plane crashes, etc. i really don't remember doing that many drills for MCI's such as tornados, and any one we did was limited to our town or city and maybe a couple of surrounding ones at best. I sincerely think that training is the key and that if you train for something often enough, response will be almost if not automatic. As Bernie, pointed out on one of the other boards I'm on CT responders do very well in cases like this and as the crap hits the fan they tend to do even better. Even though that is said and I agree 100% with him, I think there is almost always room for improvement. That's why there are people who study the response, etc for incidents like this and then we learn what mistakes were made and impliment new policies and protocols. I'm open to questions, comments, etc on this so lets hear what everyone has to say.

Joe
PS- and now that I've re-read this post I am actually going to copy and paste it to 2 other boards I subscribe to to get opinions from there also.

 

[mbnv992]

I've never been to a "Tornado Drill" / practice, etc. either. In fact, the last I heard of CT getting one, was during the late 70's when it touched down during the Air Museum in Windsor.

But, getting back to the "what frequency would we use during a disaster / communication" question, I always though that there was an emergency GMRS frequency that was to be used in such an emergency (462.6750) ? Then again, I remember reading somewhere that that frequency was no longer monitored by the Red Cross, and now is no longer an emergency channel ??
I don't know, perhaps someone more "in the know" can also respond as to what frequency we'd all go to in a case like this ?
I have my radios emergency frequencies programmed for that GMRS channel anyway, even though I find it highly unlikely that someone would actually respond. I have both the simplex, and repeater frequency plugged in all my two ways, although I never hear any traffic on them.

 

[N1SQB]

My 2 Cents Worth!

First let me address something about the tornado warnings that Joe spoke about. I don't know why these things do not get enough mention but they are priceless to me.Dedicated NOAA weather receivers with SAME. I have one made by a company called REECOM. Here is a link to where I got it:
Weather Radios, Emergency Radios, NOAA Weather Radio
This store has ALL the goodies from basic receivers to others with more gadgets and extras. The one I use is this one: R1630 NOAA All Hazards and Weather Alert Radio with SAME from Reecom This particular one has the end-of-message detection which silences the receiver after the alert message ends. I cannot tell you how many times this little guy has saved our butts. The kids would be outside playing and a severe thunderstorm warning would come in. Minutes later, the kids are inside and sure enough, the thunder and lightning starts. or we would be just on the way out to someplace and a warning would come in. Listen, not everyone is glued to the weather channel or TV for that matter. These things do their job extremely well. I have 2, 1 in the main floor of the house and another in the family room downstairs. Both are backed up by rechargeable batteries for use during power outages. Of all my receivers, I consider THIS one my most important, for obvious reasons. The sensitivity is excellent as is the audio. No home should be without one. NOAA weather alerts have always been on the money with accuracy.

Second,

mbnv992, I don't know if you are aware, but Hamden had an EF-4 touch down in 1989.
Here is a video taken by a Captain from Hamden FD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuPPg6cTTDQ
WTNH-8 article- http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/news_wtnh_hamden_tornado_20th_anniversary_200907100605
Then last year, Bridgeport got hit with an EF-1 tornado. http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=7518543 . Either way, we definitely have had tornados touch down since the late 70s.

As far as the GMRS emergency channels go, as my Italian in laws like to say, "fuggetaboutit!". GMRS as well as FRS and MURS have pretty much become useless for emergencies or anything else useful thanks to the bubble pack dime-a-dozen manufacturers. As much as I am not really involved in Ham radio right now, I have to admit that it is still a good resource during an emergency with all the different frequencies and repeaters available. Not the best of the best, but a "good" choice or avenue to choose during an emergency. Becoming familiar with your local Skywarn repeaters is a real good choice even if you are just on the listening end of things. Just my 2 cents worth here guys!


Manny

 

[mbnv992]

First let me address something about the tornado warnings that Joe spoke about. I don't know why these things do not get enough mention but they are priceless to me.Dedicated NOAA weather receivers with SAME. I have one made by a company called REECOM. Here is a link to where I got it:
Weather Radios, Emergency Radios, NOAA Weather Radio
This store has ALL the goodies from basic receivers to others with more gadgets and extras. The one I use is this one: R1630 NOAA All Hazards and Weather Alert Radio with SAME from Reecom This particular one has the end-of-transmition shutt off which silencesthe receiver after the alert message ends. I cannot tell you how many times this little guy has saved our butts. The kids would be outside playing and a severe thunderstorm warning would come in. Minutes later, the kids are inside and sure enough, the thunder and lightning starts. or we would be just on the way out to someplace and a warning would come in. Listen, not everyone is glued to the weather channel or TV for that matter. These things do their job extremely well. I have 2, 1 in the main floor of the house and another in the family room downstairs. Both are backed up by rechargeable batteries for use during power outages. Of all my receivers, I consider THIS one my most important, for obvious reasons. The sensitivity is excellent as is the audio. No home should be without one. NOAA weather alerts have always been on the money with accuracy.

Second,

mbnv992, I don't know if you are aware, but Hamden had an EF-4 touch down in 1989.
Here is a video taken by a Captain from Hamden FD: YouTube - ‪1989 Hamden Tornado Aftermath‬‏
WTNH-8 article- Hamden tornado 20th anniversary | WTNH.com Connecticut
Then last year, Bridgeport got hit with an EF-1 tornado. National Weather Service determines EF1 tornado hit Bridgeport | 7online.com . Either way, we have had tornados touch down since the late 70s
Manny

Wow !!

Very interesting info. !!

I had no idea about those tornadoes ! When that Hamden tornado hit, I was 4 years old, but I should have still known about it. Feel ever so stupid having never heard about that one before

Also, very good info. on the NOAA radios as well. I might just pick one up for the house.

 

[joetnymedic]

as manny said the tornados in hamden and in bridgeport did some serious damage, so yes, we have had tornados in connecticut after the 70's but I'm not going to get into a contest over that, you were 4 so you didn't remember. We have had plenty of tornados touch down here in our state and since we have been hit before, we will most likely get hit again. That is why I think drills should be conducted and people should recieve training. I think that said training might just save someones ***. having a radio that gets weather warnings is a plus also. the other thing to point out is that even though tornado touchdowns here in CT are not a common occurance every yeart, i can pretty much say that microbursts are and they are pretty dangerous. the point i was trying to get across is that we should be prepared for stuff like this. Being a retired medic, I know that when I was working the field, most of the time, my treatment of various medical and traumas became almost automatic, even though this stuff (tornados, etc) doesn't happen everyday, wouldn't it be nice if that same automatic response came to responders? Every situation isn't going to be by the book, hell, regular emergency calls aren't by the book. The training is just a guideline, but that's just it, training is the key. Being prepared is the key. Did you know that CT has had so many tornados that there has been over 550 million dollars worth of damage statewide from them? Here is an excellent site to check out which I recieved from someone who works both Wolcott and Campion Ambulance http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/ check it out. I also think that not only do our responders need to be trained, but there should be training oppertunities out there for the general public too as they are going to be greatly and directly effected by these things too. I'm not just talking the get into your basement and away from glass and unsecured objects either. I'm talking about that sure, but I'm talking about the aftermath, food, water, communications. Checking on family and friends in the area as well as your neighbors, stuff like that. As Manny pointed out, FRS and GMRS stuff is out there no doubt, but I think that stuff is going to be pretty useless. I know there is a nationwide calling channel on GMRS which is the GMRS equivelent to a CB's channel 9. How many police/ fire/ ems departments do you really think will be monitoring for your calls for help? I know back in the day, alot of police departments up here had cb's and supposedly monitored channel 9 but thatdied down a long time ago. I'm not sure about you, but if something like this were to hit here, I think our resourses will be drained very rapidly and while I advocate trying to reach emergency services first, if there is going to be a delay in them getting there, I am not going to let one of my kids, family, friends or neighbors die, while sitting there waiting. My *** is going to do something and before anyone starts talking hero syndrome, Manny knows me, sitting there doing nothing is not me and I'll be damn if I am going to sit back and watch someone box when I could have done something. Let me share something with you guys that a couple of people I know on this board will remember from way back in the day when I first got my EMT and was vollying for a small town up here (an you guys know who you are) I remember going to an MVA in an ambulance and a car having live wires on it and watching someone fry from getting electrocuted in that car (don't believe the tires are going to ground the car line because if the wire is making contact with metal and the person in the car touches metal they are getting jolted) I remember getting held back as well as others getting held back as we watched this guy fry.(and Rob, I know you remember this call too). I was torn up like you wouldn't believe, and this call as well as a few others stay with me to this day and that call was over 27 years ago. I thank God that I didn't make it to the car because my young dumb *** would have been victim number 2 or 3. You are supposed to be part or the solution and not part of the problem. You can't help anyone if you are down too. That is why I advocate training, training, training for everyone, public safety and the public. It's ok to help if you don''t get in the way. I am not saying that if you have training you go to a call and try to help, that is a no-no. Let these guys do there job, that's what they are trained to do and you will be more of a hinder than a help in that case. What I am talking about doing is if you are there and help isn't, holding c-spine so someone doesnt become paralyzed. Keeping someones airrway open so they can breathe and not suffocate to death (that is a very bad way to go). I strongly advocate learning at least basic first aid and CPR. Just stuff like that. Even if you are not going to go to work as an EMT, take the course, who knows it may just help you save a family members life. Become involved in your local CERT team. Stuff like that. It's not about being a hero, it's about doing the right thing and most importantly, being trained to do it right. Sorry if I got a tad off subject, but as you can tell I am passionate about doing the right thing and helping others. As Manny and a few others know, I'd still be out there doing my thing if it wasn't for my health problems, but I will never , ever turn my back, or not help someone if I can in an emergency until the good guys show up. Both my sons are in the process of becoming EMT's and I couldn't be prouder of them. They both also want to go into Fire Service, You all have no idea as to how proud that makes me feel. Not because they are following in my foot steps, but because from family experience, they learned that helping others is one of the best things you can do in this life. The End

Thanks for listening,

Joe

 

[ecps92]

One Campus has Sirens, and everyone left the Bldgs to go Look at the Sky vs take Shelter. Doesn't Work. Just view the You Boob videos of those who drove into the storm [Wayne n Garth] as well as those who kept driving...

Common Sense has left the General Population

The recent incidents in MA with the tornados got me to thinking and I've been reading around about things. What type of notifications do we have for Tornados and other disasters here in CT and would the average "JOE" (no pun intended) know what to do? I've read that some towns have siren systems similiar to what we used in the FD and EMS when I lived in Sleepy Hollow, NY, but I also read that they aren't tested regularly and that alot were broken and parts were unavailable. Then there's reverse 911. In one case I read that it was actually quite effective, yet I know in my area, most people don't use landlines and they are so worried about their privacy they don't register their cell phones with the city. How do you notify these people the "big one" is coming to take shelter in that case? Unless they are glued to the TV, I think it would be pretty hard and that they won't know something is up until we get hit. The other thing is, who responds? Do they have to actually be requested or is it an automatic response? Is there an actual plan in place? Then there's the other issue, As seen in MA, most of their phones and power got knocked out, so that form of communication was pretty much rendered useless. What if the repeaters go down? Yes, you can use radios on simplex, but thats not going to cover a great distance and the higher the frequency you're on the shorter the covered distance will be. My gut feeling says the PD's would be the most likely to notify and request help if their systems aren't too damaged, as they have the low band state hotline system in place. Intercity Fire on VHF high might also be useful. My thing is, what's the plan and is there a backup, and I know this sounds like overkill, but is there a backup to the backup? The other issue I have which doesn't really belong on a radio board, but I'm putting this out there because a number of us that are here are pd, fire, ems as well as folks like myself who are retired out of those services, is training. We do mock drills for car crashes, plane crashes, etc. i really don't remember doing that many drills for MCI's such as tornados, and any one we did was limited to our town or city and maybe a couple of surrounding ones at best. I sincerely think that training is the key and that if you train for something often enough, response will be almost if not automatic. As Bernie, pointed out on one of the other boards I'm on CT responders do very well in cases like this and as the crap hits the fan they tend to do even better. Even though that is said and I agree 100% with him, I think there is almost always room for improvement. That's why there are people who study the response, etc for incidents like this and then we learn what mistakes were made and impliment new policies and protocols. I'm open to questions, comments, etc on this so lets hear what everyone has to say.

Joe
PS- and now that I've re-read this post I am actually going to copy and paste it to 2 other boards I subscribe to to get opinions from there also.

 

[KB1JHU]

One Campus has Sirens, and everyone left the Bldgs to go Look at the Sky vs take Shelter. Doesn't Work. Just view the You Boob videos of those who drove into the storm [Wayne n Garth] as well as those who kept driving...

Common Sense has left the General Population

Natural selection/population control at work.

 

[N1SQB]

It will never happen in OUR state, that's absurd!

I believe that there is a sense of "it can't or that doesn't happen HERE" in our state for the most part as far as our citizens are concerned. There is a sense of complacency in our state. It's going to come around and take a big chunck off our behind one day when we least expect it. Weather is nature. You cannot control it, and some barely predict it properly...I hope people take a closer look at Hamden, Bridgeport, and of course Massachusetts and start preparing.

Manny