*** SAR Response for 260 Subjects Trapped by Blizzard *** Date: Mon, 03 Nov 97 08:23:59 EST From: Steve Branam To: sar-l-d@islandnet.com Subject: Re: Colorado storm - 259 search targets Just curious, as the snow approaches Massachusetts, what do you do for people trapped by the snow in their cars, especially when you have a lot of cars? Do you try to get something to them? If so, what? Space blankets, heat packs, water, food??? Do you try to carry enough emergency supplies for a number of people? Do you haul a sled around with everything? Do you keep large numbers of supplies accessible or cached? Do you try to evac them? What about when they have inadequate clothing and footwear for even short snow travel? Do you just do a sort of triage, locating people for emergency vehicles, dealing with life threatening situations on scene, and telling everyone else to sit tight, help is on the way? I guess this changes from typical SAR planning, where you expect to deal with only a few victims, to small-scale disaster planning, where you expect tens of victims. Steve Branam, CMSART Hub Products Engineering 508-486-6043 branam@dechub.lkg.dec.com Digital Equipment Corporation DTN 226-6043 Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 07:21:00 -0700 From: Ron Lee To: sar-l@islandnet.com Subject: Re: Colorado storm - 259 search targets Our problem was we couldn't get anybody to them. The blizzard was a complete white-out situation for about 36 hours. After the wind abated snow cats, snowmobiles and army humvees all tried with little sucess to get past the snow drifts. The most valuable resource which also was the hardest to get were front end loaders to cut through the drifts. Followed closely by snowplows. With a rough cut through the snow, the humvees were able to do a lot of evacuation. Its a problem with them also because despite claims, there is not much room. Drivers are rarely medically trained. The army insisted on two of their personnel per vehicle (understandable). You add a medic and you can only carry one or two victims. Triaging based on reports received is a good way to organize your response, especially when the queue gets high and access to victims will happen all at once. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to document every single report on paper or computer with as much information as you can glean. Only with good documentation can you even begin to triage the reports. We have been using the Incident Command System for about 3 years now. It has always worked well for us, but in this event it really shone. It made it much easier to get adapted to the deluge of calls as an organization was in place immediately upon assignment of personnel. Everyone knew what their task was and didn't have to get diverted doing unrelated tasks. It also helped in working with the dozen or so other agencies in the county, even when they didn't use the IC system. They seemed to accept our role in this emergency better, even when working in territory where they were, by tradition, the guys locals called first (a reference to rural volunteer fire departments). Nearly all VFD's were completely immobilized by the storm anyway so they were glad someone was coordinating the mess. There is a wonderful story posted Sunday on our website from the Colorado Springs Gazette that gives a really good wrapup story on all that went on. As you can see, our team played a leading role hand in hand with OEM in managing this event. I hate to sound like a braggard, but I must comment that I really stand in awe at what our team, my team mates, accomplished and how well everyone performed. I would never have thought we would be slammed with such a hugh amount of activity at once and be able to deal with it so well with all the handicaps the storm provided us. My confidence in this team, although always high, has skyrocketed. Ron Lee Information Systems and Resources Committee Chair El Paso County Search and Rescue, Inc. Colorado Springs, Colorado USA team email: epcsar@frii.com personal email: ronlee@frii.com World Wide Web: http://www.frii.com/~epcsar/ -----------------------------