It is always exciting to get to travel to other jurisdictions to see how they have designed their emergency and disaster response. This past week I accompanied a Fire Chief and one of his Captains to Florida to look at mobile command posts, hazmat trucks and other disaster response vehicles that were in use, as well as spending a day and a half at a fire/specialty truck manufacturer. The objective of the trip was to come up with a practical design for a combination mobile command post and emergency support truck.
There were numerous lessons and ideas gained by talking with front line staff, disaster managers, senior officials and specialist truck manufacturers, too many to list. But the biggest lesson was a reminder of how valuable it is to get outside advice based on experience. Many thanks to the many professionals we met with, sharing their experiences; what they did right and what they would change in the future. The professionals we visited with had been to hurricanes, floods, chemical plant fires, train derailments etc., some travelling to other states to assist (e.g. Katrina), so when they had suggestions we listened carefully. Hopefully we will be able to take these nuggets of experience and apply them to meet the requirements of the community our truck is being designed for.
