MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — Hardly an after-action report goes through without “communications” being high on the list of discussion topics. In a Public Safety Solutions-sponsored session at Pinnacle 2024, a focus group discussed the unique events that test EMS personnel’s creativity, technical knowledge and the true meaning of interoperability.
The panel included:
- Jonathan Ayres, president, Public Safety Solutions
- Bob Patterson, executive director, Mercy EMS
- Tara Hammer, senior solutions engineer, Public Safety Solutions
Together, they presented a case study focusing on honest lessons about how technology can be leveraged to respond in a timely and effective manner. When making hard decisions, having the best information possible enables a correct common operating picture, increasing the likelihood of best outcomes.
Memorable quotes
“Technology in itself can be a force multiplier when used correctly.” — Tara Hammer
“It comes down to us as EMS leaders to make the choice to be interoperable, to step in and have the conversations with our neighbors.” — Tara Hammer
“I hate when people say communication was bad and then stop the sentence there. Tell me why it was bad. Tell me the problem.” — Tara Hammer
“Sometimes, it comes down to, ‘I don’t care what’s printed on the side of the truck, I need an ambulance who can help this person.’” — Tara Hammer
“Things will fail. No matter how much you say something is air gapped, things will fail.” — Tara Hammer
Top takeaways
Patterson and Hammer (who was dispatching 911 calls when the events unfolded), recounted a 2018 incident in which a duck boat – an amphibious vehicle – sank in Table Rock Lake, just west of Branson, Missouri, with 31 people on board. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for the area for a quick-moving storm, and just 40 minutes later, the first 911 calls came in. Tragically, 17 of those on board lost their lives, including 9 members of a family of 11.
They offered their top takeaways from that and other local incidents, including the deadly Joplin tornado.
- Assess your community’s risks
Hammer encouraged attendees to consider the potential risks in their areas – sand mines, chemical plants, amusement parks – and to measure them against the three components of risk:- The threat – evaluate the potential for what can go wrong
- Vulnerability – look for weakness in design, implementation and operations (Hammer noted you can’t always control vulnerabilities, like in the duck boat incident, “weather exists”
- Impact – what is the potential loss should this theoretical incident occur?
Hammer noted all three components must be involved to pose a risk. “If we have a threat and a vulnerability, but no one is in danger, there’s no risk,” she explained.
Hammer referenced Lexipol Co-Founder and risk management guru Gordon Graham’s risk matrix, noting public safety agencies often train for the high-frequency, high-risk events that can occur in their jurisdictions, but it is the high-risk, low-frequency events – like a sinking duck boat – that need to be trained on.
Common radio programming connects resources
Using the same radio programming fleet-wide allowed Mercy EMS PSAP’s dispatchers to pull resources from every part of their system to respond to what they anticipated could be 30-plus patients. Mutual aid partners were tagged in to cover other 911 calls in the area (including a structure fire), while local units responded to the lake.Hammer was also able to communicate with a crew completing an interfacility transport nearby, and route them to the scene, quickly sharing the correct zone and channel.
To ensure all staff maintain competence on using the radios, Ayres insists on a regular training day, in which he selects a frequency and all staff are required to use their radios only to communicate. If they get caught using a cellphone, they have to buy everyone, he shared. These little things prepare you for the big things, he said, and when a big event hits, you won’t have to worry about staff missing a headset, not having a charged radio, or being unsure of how to access the channel.
“Technology is a perishable skill,” Hammer stressed.
- Size up the scene, and be ready to pivot
Responding Mercy EMS units expected to find passengers floating in life jackets. Instead, they discovered the passengers were not required to wear life jackets, and many were stuck inside the sinking vessel, prompting a need for divers to immediately get to work trying to locate victims.
