Public Safety Signals
A discussion of Public Safety issues and why they matter
Monday Morning Quarterbacking
2007 Aug 6 Posted by Joseph Pascarella
Monday, August 6, 2007
Recovery and clean-up efforts are beginning nearly five days after the Interstate 35W Bridge collapse. As of today, five persons have been killed, eight are missing and over 100 were injured. The grim task of clean-up and searching for the missing victims, while concurrently conducting an investigation is what public safety officials in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region are facing.
The response of public safety is continually under scrutiny and increased public expectations of the public safety function along with the flow of information via electronic media have increased the transparency of the public safety response to serious incidents. Initial decisions made by first, and then second responders, are analyzed and critiqued by the public and the media. Additionally, these decisions are even more intensely analyzed and critiqued by the public safety organizations themselves following the incident. Just about every decision made, by line personnel, line supervisors, middle managers, and commanders and officials within the public safety realm will be second-guessed and questioned and generally concluded with, “They should have done……” Public safety personnel recognize this as part of the job.
Several days have elapsed since this horrendous incident. Public safety officials made two very early good decisions.
1. The Department of Homeland Security announced the incident was not terrorism-related.
This timely announcement is important in today’s world. The public needs to feel at ease, as do second responders. This rules out the possibility of a secondary and tertiary device, or that a biological or chemical agent was released. This is very important during initial mobilization of first and second responders.
2. The Minnesota Twins-Kansas City Royals game was Not cancelled.
This decision, made presumably with conferrals between public safety and Minnesota Twins’ officials, was an excellent, very early, yet under stress decision. The bridge collapse was at approximately 6:05 PM Local time, and the game started approximately one hour later. Cancelling the game would have placed another 20,000 -25,000 persons, and perhaps another 5,000 - 10,000 vehicles in close proximity to the bridge, hampering second response.
These two early decisions certainly contributed to what appears at this point to be an excellent first and second response by public safety personnel to this disaster. Moving forward, these are types of Best Practices that we need to build upon for continuing preparedness and training.
Joe Pascarella
7 Responses to “Monday Morning Quarterbacking”
Joe Pascarella Says:
Patricia,
Thanks for the post.
Making early decisions under intense stress (particulary during unforseen and unexpected disasters) that effect a large numbers of persons is one of the most critical public safety leadership qualities.
Joe Pascarella
Janice Aanenson Says:
Joe,
This is an interesting blog topic that as day 7 approaches since this event, many Minnesotan’s are questioning not only the collapse, but the response.
One question I have is the order of responsibility for Public Safety. Last night on Kare 11 in Minneapolis they said the Fire Department is first command, then the police, then the sheriffs and then the federal government. I have seen this shift throughout the past week here, where the first ones to report were fire and police chiefs and not it is the Sheriff’s office and FBI et al. My question is what part does each division continue to play? Or is it go in as your role and then leave?
Janice Aanenson
Assistant Dean
School of Undergraduate Studies
Joe Pascarella Says:
Janice,
Thanks for the post. You bring up a very salient point.
The Incident Command System (ICS) is usually based on the city charter in large urban areas outline who is in charge during what incident.
Generally, the police are in charge of clearly criminal incidents (including terrorism) and the fire services are in charge of most rescue operations (such as the bridge collapse).
The position of “Emergency Manager” was created solely to coordinate public safety agencies.
Joe Pascarella
Mary Carothers Says:
I do not live in your state-but like your situation we have many bridges in the state of Washington. In fact I cross over two bridges on a regular basis to get to work. One of them- Interstate 520 is the same age or older as the bridge that buckled.
The Department of Transportation is advocating that the bridge be replaced as soon as possible since it is a hazard. The engineering scenario presented was almost identical to the failure of the 35 W.
Joe Pascarella Says:
Mary,
Thanks for the entry and the information about your home state.
This incident, from a Public Safety perspective, is quite unnerving given that the bridge did not suffer any sudden trauma from a collision with a barge or seismic earthquake activity.
At this point, the bridge apparently collapsed because of a structural defect.
Joe Pascarella
Drew Says:
I have to say that the response and effort by Mpls police,fire.multiple ems and Hennepin sheriffs was great and well done. Watching theme respond and work together made me feel very safe and happy to be a long time resident of the Twin Cities. Job weel done. My only question is where was the state patrol? Maybe I missed thier brief apperance on one of the news channels
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Patricia Swan Smith Says:
I think that your headline is very appropriate “Monday Morning Quarterbacking.” Before any of the “should ofs” get started, there should be a lot of thanks for those who get in there first, second and third and risk not only life but also mind. I appreciate what has been done and my heart goes out to everyone and anyone touched by this tragedy. Patricia Swan Smith
August 6th, 2007 at 10:15 pm