Emergency�Response

Mark Ray, PE

Director of Public Works

Intro

• This topic applies to everyone in the public works profession
• The first responder mindset is a different mindset
• You will need to be intentional to grow
• I challenge you to grow and be better
• We can bring a lot of skill and resources to the table

Take ownership

• You are an inspector
• You have at least some authority on scene
• You represent at least one agency
• The public expects you to do something

​

• So prepare yourself for when the bad thing happens

First Responder Mindset

• See something/say something
• Avoid silo mentality
• Providing good service
• Priority
• Life
• Incident stabilization
• Property
• Environment
• Coordinated response
• Proactive vs. reactive
• Team mentality

Know capabilities

• Inspectors should know their contractor’s capabilities and how they can support other responders
• Also the capabilities of the agency the inspectors represent

​

• If inspector sees something out of place:
• Realize that they should tell someone, it is part of their job
• Know who to tell, or if not exactly who, at least where to start

Reluctance To Get Involved

• People sometimes to do not respond to a situation for a variety of reasons including:
• Fear of doing something wrong/being embarrassed/get in trouble
• Think someone else will do something
• Not being sure what to do
• No responsibility to do something
• Do not want to make a big deal of it

​

• We do not want this to be us

Reluctance to call 911

• Situation is likely already stressful.
• Some individuals see calling for help as a sign of weakness or inability.
• Callers must put what they are seeing (possibly for the first time) into words that make up coherent sentences.
• Callers must be able to think and respond to questions from the dispatcher.

Communication Guidelines

• Who you are
• Where you are

What you see

• What you are doing
• Answer questions
• Short and sweet
• Do not be afraid

Physical response to stress

“Fight or flight” response to immediate threats:

• Acceleration of heart and lung action
• Paling or flushing of the skin, or alternating between both
• Dilation of pupils and loss of peripheral vision (tunnel vision)
• Allows more detail from images in front of you
• Auditory exclusion (loss of hearing)
• Shaking (during and after the event)
• Adrenaline release
• Short term memory loss
• Primarily concerning stressful incident or events that just occurred
• Muscle memory kicks in
• Memory recall improves with time

Potential emergency/incident for inspectors

• Construction work zones (road closures)
• Construction accidents
• Sewer backups
• Water main breaks
• Damaged utilities (hit gas line)
• Traffic signal malfunction
• Flooding

Priority

• Life
• Incident Stabilization
• Property
• Environment

National Incident Management System

• A national standard on organizing the response
• Focuses on role and responsibilities
• Not titles
• Scalable based on the size and nature of the incident
• Good to use for small events to build muscle memory
• https://training.fema.gov/is/crslist.aspx

FEMA National Training and Education Division

• Federal and state training opportunities
• On campus, in region, and online
• Generally free (attendees cover transportation, lodging, food, time)
• For online, need to create User ID
• https://www.firstrespondertraining.gov

Fundamentals

• Own the issue
• If not you, then who?
• Priority
• Life
• Incident stabilization
• Property
• Environment
• Plan for your body’s response to stress
• Do some training

Be awesome

​

​

Mark Ray

Mark.ray@crystalmn.gov

763.531.1160