White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Time to Fund Westchester's Regional Rescue Team

WPCNR CITY VOICE. By Hezi Aris and Tom Bock, former Fire Chief, Town of Elmsford. October 2, 2002 -- The safety dilemma confronting the communities of Westchester County can no longer delude the wishful and hopeful. We can no longer praise the illusion worn by “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” for Han Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale has matured beyond the days of innocence to the personal horror we confronted on 9-11.

The quest for solutions is driven by a need to re-invent an umbrella of safety in an environment of sobriety that is a testimony to the passion, education, and the experience of dedicated people who strive to leave the baggage of error in the past cognizant to not repeat the tragedy of its naiveté.

Origins of the Regional Rescue Team

To that end, a select group of volunteer firefighters formulated a concept borne prior to the events of 9-11 that when endorsed will become the vision of tomorrow. Their vision can ably serve the residents of Westchester County with a Regional Technical Rescue Team that is presently the vital missing link to our security and peace of mind.

An initial attempt to bring about this vision met with limited success. The first attempt witnessed the creation of the Mount Pleasant Technical Rescue Team.

Undermanned, Underfunded

Within a short period of time thereafter, the three original Fire Districts that comprised this team - the Thornwood, Valhalla, and Hawthorne Volunteer Fire Departments, realized that three local fire departments could not bear the burden of running an intense operation alone. Events of 9-11 became the catalyst to spur the vision from concept into planning form by October 2001.

The Concept

The Regional Technical Rescue Team will exist in union with all of Westchester's municipalities. First responders will continue making their initial response and surface rescues. The Regional Technical Rescue Team will operate under an Integrated Emergency Management System (I.E.M.S.), through Mutual Aid nabling the Rescue Team to interact with any local, County, State, and Federal agency.

Training

The Task Force will centralize equipment and training, through the Department of Emergency Services, in Valhalla, New York, to provide an immediate response - filling the void until State and/or Federal resources arrive, typically 3-4 hours for the State, and 24-48 hours for Federal.

The manpower is there.

The Regional Technical Rescue Team is currently comprised of over 200 highly dedicated, motivated, and skilled members of many different local emergency services communities. They are firefighters, police officers, Paramedics, EMT's, engineers, doctors, heavy machinery operators, and others, all interested in helping Westchester County and it's residents.

Widespread Coverage Reach.

This all-inclusive Team will cover and respond to all of Westchester (and possibly the Hudson Valley region if requested), taking it's members from all of Westchester's Emergency Services and will be based upon the FEMA Technical Rescue model (1670 and 1006). The men and women who volunteer for this Team, will maintain the highest level of training, conform to standards of FEMA, NFPA, OSHA and more, and be based out of the Department of Emergency Services in Valhalla, New York.

Why it Makes Sense.

Individually, many emergency services departments have responded to calls where the victims are at great risk. At these same emergencies, first responder personnel are at an even greater risk because they don’t have the technical expertise, equipment or skills to 'do it right'.

No further delay, please!

We're asking you to change this situation now! Don't continue to have us 'just get by'. Whether it is something as big as a building collapse or as small as a trapped child. It is time to offer the people of Westchester County a dedicated Regional Technical Rescue Team comprised of people well-prepared, well-trained, well-equipped, and ready to help them the right way. Westchester County needs a Regional Technical Rescue Team now!

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

QUESTION: Will it cost money?

ANSWER: Yes it will. $1.8 million. Westchester County Executive Andy Spano has said, “We will be asking FEMA to create an urban search and rescue team for Westchester. Trained and funded by the Federal government, this team would be a resource to the entire Hudson Valley and act as a back-up to New York City, whose team was hard hit on September 11th.”

QUESTION: Does this team exist?

ANSWER: Yes, it does! All that is required is for Westchester County to supply the equipment while the volunteer fire departments supply the personnel.

QUESTION: What is a Technical Rescue Team?

ANSWER: A Technical Rescue Team is to Emergency Services what the Special Forces are to the Military or a SWAT team is to the Police. These are people who have trained beyond the skills of the average firefighter and police officer.

QUESTION: What are the 7 skills necessary for Technical Rescue?

ANSWER: 1) High and Low Angle Rope Rescue of people trapped in high places, such as 200' high water tanks or places encountered in the wilderness, usually hikers or rock climbers in our vast parks system.

2) Confined Space Rescue of people, usually workers, trapped in unusually small or dangerous places such as pipes or tanks in industrial places, similar to what's found in sewerage treatment plants.

3) Vehicle or Machinery Rescue of workers caught in machinery or passengers in high-speed rail or highway accidents involving larger vehicles.

4) Trench Rescue of workers or children trapped in deep drainage, sewerage or other utility trenches, requiring precise extrication from the tons of crushing earth.

5) Building Collapse, such as school children in tornado or hurricane ravaged buildings, terrorist bombing attacks, chemical and gas explosions, or just plain old-age deterioration of our crumbling infrastructure.

6) Water Rescue of persons trapped in vehicles or homes from fast moving floodwaters or hikers in our vast wilderness areas within or around the county caught in swift water.

7) Wilderness Rescue of lost people or trapped children, of planes downed near our airports, people lost in the woods or in large bodies of water.

QUESTION: What is the Response Area?

ANSWER: As a County agency we would respond to any emergency agency in any municipality in Westchester that requests help under the aegis of Mutual Aid

QUESTION: What is Mutual Aid?

ANSWER: Mutual Aid is a Westchester County-wide agreement that enables any County fire department to call for assistance from another County fire department.

QUESTION: What would the funding be used for?

ANSWER: Training of over 100 technicians, Apparatus (or vehicles) to carry the equipment and manpower. Equipment caches, Home Base.

The Executive Committee, when authorized by Westchester County, would become an advisory committee that would fall under the aegis of Commissioner Patrick Kelly of the Department of Emergency Services for Westchester.


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