Exercise at DIA

Status
Not open for further replies.

n0doz

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
762
Location
Metro PHX AZ
Wasn't much on the radio. Cool parts were the Wyo. ANG C-130, AirLife and Flight for Life helicopters.
Oh, and the new DIA fire chief. All I can say is, wow.
 

kc0kp

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2006
Messages
451
Location
DM79np
Wasn't much on the radio. Cool parts were the Wyo. ANG C-130, AirLife and Flight for Life helicopters.
Oh, and the new DIA fire chief. All I can say is, wow.
The bulk of radio traffic was on amateur radio. ARES did most of the comms on packet, 2 meter analog voice and D-Star digital voice. They had folks at hospitals from the Wyo boarder to the Springs.
Craig
 

zerg901

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
3,725
Location
yup
What is the crash response to the airport? Do any of the local public safety agencies respond? Or is it just Denver FD and Denver EMS units that respond? Under what conditions do the med helos respond? Peter Sz
 

datainmotion

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 9, 2001
Messages
2,300
Location
Colorado
"The exercise, called Mountain Move 2010, simulates a large earthquake in Salt Lake City and the sudden evacuation of dozens of patients to the Denver area."

Yikes! Utah has been rather seismically active the last couple of days...
 

n0doz

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
762
Location
Metro PHX AZ
>What is the crash response to the airport? Do any of the local public safety agencies respond? Or is it just Denver FD and Denver EMS units that respond? Under what conditions do the med helos respond? Peter Sz<
Hi Peter, how's things in my home state?
The answer is complex. We have 4 ARFF stations at DIA, with 8 or 9 large ARFF rigs. We also have a regular structural pumper rig, tower rig, and 3 mini-pumpers on Hummer chassis. 4(?) of the ARFFs are new Oshkosh 4500 gal. Strykers. To make a long story short: we have a lot of equipment right here.
There are 3 city fire stations within a short distance (2, 27, & 29), and all may respond to major incidents to fill in for DIA rigs as needed. Usually, they're staged either right outside or right inside the fence, but even when that 737 went down on the property in December 2008, none went further than staging. We have a HazMat rig also (marked "Dangerous Goods Response" in keeping with FAA terminology) but the downtown-Denver-based hazmat rig ("HAMER-1") comes out anyway (about 30 miles), especially when the truck company is otherwise occupied.
We've done several exercises at DIA involving other local fire departments, such as Aurora, the Adams County fire districts, and the Sable-Altura district. However, none were called for the '08 crash.
EMS is a little more complicated. Denver has a very well-developed paramedic ambulance system. We typically have 3 or 4 paramedics at the airport, and an ambulance is posted most of the day, giving them a very short (1-3 minute) response time. Additional ambulances would come from our city units initially (I don't remember how many we usually have on the street at any given time - anybody know? I'm guessing 10 or thereabouts) with Rural Metro (the Aurora ambulances) the primary backup out here for a major situation.
Finally: air ambulances are requested by the paramedic in charge and then coordinated thru airport ops and (on the property) the FAA tower, so response is no different than any other place... if we need it and they're available, the tower will clear the airspace and we'll get air support.
So that's about it. I'm not with DFD, but I've participated in planning and exercise development for a number of years out here, and thus have had the privilege of working with DFD for drills, etc. Great bunch of real pros.
 

jimmnn

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 11, 2002
Messages
14,370
Location
Colorado
DG has between 8-14 ambulances normally on the streets (way above the national UHU recommended for a city this size) depending on the time of day and they utilize Jack Stouts System Status Management (SSM) so basically when one call drops often 2 or 3 ambulances will move "posts" and these posts are through out the city and now as Gerry mentions recently including DIA.

The medics Gerry mentions at DIA Peter use golf carts and mountain bikes mainly to access all the airport with there equip. They also run over 3,500 per/year at the airport alone.

DENVER HEALTH PARAMEDIC DIVISION > OPERATIONS > DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

They also for example have an ambulance posted in Dist 2 and Dist 5 normally so those will float towards DIA if needed and the entire Montbello area DFD structural stations will also all move towards staging at the airport in the event of a major incident.

Jim<
 

n0doz

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
762
Location
Metro PHX AZ
Thanks, Jim. Chevy Suburbans are available (marked the same as the regular-size models) for the DIA medics' use as well.
By the way, speaking of "markings," airport ops is trying out a Tahoe with the same orange-yellow chevrons on the back that the medics have on the 'Burbs. The sides have "OPERATIONS" in 6' letters, done in that new reflective material that looks black until you put a light on it... and the brightest 3-row LED light bar I've ever seen.
 

zerg901

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
3,725
Location
yup
n0doz and others - thanks for the info - all is fine and dandy here in the Bay (at the moon) State.

I have been pulling together a little info about Logan International Airport ops here in Boston. "Alert 1" seems to mean that Mass Port Authority Fire Dept (MassPort FD) rigs will standby in their stations. "Alert 2" has the MassPort FD rigs going out on the runways, Boston FD sending 1 Engine, 1 Ladder, and 1 District Chief to the "North Staging" area, Boston EMS sending 1 Supervisor and 1 BLS ambulance to "North Staging", MassPort FD "Marine 2" boat launching, Mass State Police boat launching, and 1 boat from the US Coast Guard launching. (Policing at Logan Airport is provided by "Troop F" of the Mass State Police.)

"Alert 2" seems to be prompted by hydraulic problems (flaps or landing gear), suspicious package on board, smoke or odor in plane, etc. I believe that an "Alert 3" would be an actual crash, or a plane that was most probably going to crash. The Boston FD District Chief and the Boston EMS supervisor both pop up on the Massport FD freq to coordinate on the Alert 2s.

From the sounds of things, Denver Airport handles all of their Alert 2s "inhouse". For an Alert 3 it sounds like some Denver FD engines go to staging and some Denver EMS units also respond. Do they use the Alert 2 / Alert 3 terminology?

Peter Sz
 

n0doz

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
762
Location
Metro PHX AZ
>121.5 & 243.0 not available at air traffic control tower<
True. Not really needed in the tower, if you think about it. They are busy - roughly 26 square miles of airfield to watch, with 6 runways and 2 ground control stations up there. An inbound aircraft has already declared an emergency thru ARTCC or TRACON prior to arriving in our airspace, and if the emergency is declared later (after the a/c has already switched to a tower freq) they simply say so. Besides, the added noise of a beacon on 121.5/243 is all noise and no help to the controller.
BTW, thanks again, Jim. That chevron pattern does catch the eye, but (to me) because it's fugly!
 

04Z1V6

Member
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
778
Location
Castle Rock, Co.
In the 80s we used to go on a City Wide alert in the private ambulances and would send cars in to Denver for OLFA's so DG could stage ambulances in close proximity to the airport or a staging area, this was when Reed, Ambulance service, and Columbine ruled the roads. Do they use the ambulance companies in this way today?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top