September, 2010

Homeland Security

I am revisiting thoughts that I had several years ago that still seem valid and, in some ways more so. The media has written and discussed much about "homeland security." Their emphasis has been on the nation’s improved capabilities to prevent and respond to terrorist events since 9/11. As a public safety professional that is active throughout the state, I would like to discuss a less publicized perspective. Yes, we have spent huge amounts of money for neat "stuff" to make communities better prepared for a terrorist attack, but how much has government improved its ability to respond to the daily incident?

In my mind there are two levels of "homeland security." Let’s first look at the security issue that has garnered the most attention, terrorism. This is what the politicians refer to when they talk about “homeland security,” where billions of dollars have been invested. This money has been spent to do threat assessments, and allocated to state and local governments to address our ability to respond to major terrorist events. Michigan, Kent County, and Plainfield Township have all benefited somewhat from this process. First responders have additional equipment and initial training that, in the event of a terrorist incident, will allow us to be more efficient in our response to assist our residents. These efforts may benefit our residents in the event of a large-scale incident be it a terrorist attack, a natural or manmade disaster. There is, however, one significant question about this plan; is the community adequately prepared to handle the other level of homeland security?

The other level of homeland security is taken for granted by many people. It is the capability of the local first response agency to handle the daily emergency. I refer to this level as "day-to-day homeland security." Having capable Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, and 911 Dispatchers ready to assist the resident provides this security. Statistically we are much more likely to need this level of "homeland security." Most of us expect that if we are involved in an accident, our home catches fire or we need the police; they will be in route immediately, come with all of the resources necessary and stop, fix, or eliminate the problem, whatever it might be

I’ll limit my discussion to the area where I have the most expertise, fire departments. Many agencies are not adequately equipped or staffed, to handle simultaneous routine incidents. There are times when departments don’t have anywhere near enough people or equipment to handle even the simplest incident. This is due to a lack of funding. The tax base, along with state funding continues to shrink each year. I’m pretty lucky. The elected officials in Plainfield Township have provided the department with most of the equipment necessary for our responses and they have supported employees being properly trained to do their jobs. I believe Plainfield Township is a community with an appreciation for the life safety service that is being provided to our residents. In the past, our main challenge had been providing adequate staffing, but as budgets become tighter, replacing equipment has become a significant challenge as well. We have been fortunate in our success at receiving Assistance to Firefighters Grants for major expenses. Without these grants, we would have had to “find” nearly another half a million dollars. To meet the challenge of being able to put sufficient resources on scene, while not over burdening the budget, we have utilized a contingent of full-time paid firefighters, supplemented by Paid on Call firefighters. The Paid on Call firefighters are notified by pager of incidents requiring more personnel than those that are on duty. It is a constant struggle to recruit and retain people for these jobs because it requires extensive training, and a commitment of time that many people are not able to make. We are always looking for new Paid on Call firefighters, so if you know of someone who is interested in investing in their community go to our web site (plainfieldfire.org) for more info.

Another resource that the fire service has depended upon is mutual aid. Mutual aid agreements exist with neighboring fire departments who pledge assistance during an emergency which is greater than the resources available within the responsible department. Neighboring departments supply personnel and equipment as needed, based on availability without placing the responding fire department's territory at risk. Because of decreased staffing and greater demand for service, I foresee a time where mutual aid is not consistently readily available. Mutual aid should be used either when an incident occurs in an area where your neighbors can get there as quickly as the local department or when the incident is larger than normal. It should not be considered a way to overcome staffing or equipment reductions. If that is the case, departments should consolidate.

To summarize my opinion on homeland security, people anticipate two levels of homeland security; immediate, provided for fires, accidents and EMS emergencies and the long term response for catastrophic events. The federal government has provided large sums of money to analyze our capabilities, and to purchase specialized equipment for the long term terrorist event. However, if the local government can’t adequately train and equip a sufficient number of first responders to provide day-to-day security, the money spent by the federal government was wasted.