EMSA, Tulsa Fire Train In Mass Disaster Response

It's a situation no one wants to face but that emergency service personnel must be ready for.

EMSA and the Tulsa Fire Department are holding their first-ever joint workshop on responding to a mass casualty crisis. The two groups have worked together for years but have never sat down together to discuss strategies.

"We've all trained separately, kind of like football teams with their own locker rooms," said EMSA Public Information Officer Chris Stevens.

"Our director of operations and one of the deputy chiefs decided this has gone on too long, and we need to train together."

So on Tuesday, about 25 front line and field operations are attending the training.

"They're all the players that would be in command of the situation on both sides," Stevens said.

Response plans are being changed to incorporate new medical protocols, technology and communication tools. Lessons learned over the last 10 years of responding to weather emergencies in Oklahoma and surrounding states, chemical spills and other disasters are helping trainers set realistic command structures, according to Duffy McAnallen, EMSA director of Operations.

"We have excellent plans in place. I have no doubt both organizations can respond to whatever situation arises," McAnallen said.

"Before, we were training independently on our specific portions of the mass casualty plan. The joint training allows us to incorporate plan changes, get everyone on the same page quickly and make response in the field more seamless."

Both agencies must know "how each person needs to plug in," Chris Stevens said.

"EMSA responses are very, very fast moving," he said. "We go in, get our patients, treat them and get them out.

"Law enforcement and fire will be on scene for hours, securing the scene and cleaning it up. We don't want problems at the eleventh hour."

Tuesday's training is the first part of a five-part series that takes place over the next six months.