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作者：布雷迪·罗杰斯（D. Brady Rogers）
In promoting his book;应急响应的情境意识, Dr. Richard Gasaway, states, “Situational awareness is more complex than simply noticing what is happening around you. An emergency responder must capture clues and cues in theemergencyenvironment, make sense of the information, and predict what will happen next.”
Following the grand jury’sdecisionnot to indict Ferguson (MO) Police Department officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, the city erupted in violence and flames. After Ferguson, the focus turned nationally to other events. Most notable was the death of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black man who was placed in a choke hold by police during his arrest by New York City police officers and who ultimately died. This caused national and international protests that were reminders that racism continues to be a dividing force in America.
An August 2014 online article from HarlemWorldMag brought us back to July 16, 1964. That night, James Powell, a 15-year-old black student, was shot and killed by white Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan in Manhattan. Like Ferguson, this resulted in six nights of rioting in the Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant sections of New York City. This became the catalyst for other riots across the country. George Bernard said, “If历史repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.”
1992年洛杉矶（CA）警察局无罪释放之后，在洛杉矶的部分中也爆发了骚乱长官in the beating of Rodney King. In a 2000 Kennedy School of Government Case Program,The Flawed Emergency Response to the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, Susan Rosegrant wrote that although firefighter Scott Miller was shot driving to a conflagration, there were more than 12 documented attempts to kill firefighters and paramedics in just the first three hours of the riots.
With focus on law enforcement, the fire service—as a partner inpublic safety—should prepare for residual fallout as a result of Ferguson. Protests have awoken images of riots of the 1960s, when hoses were used to break up protests. Following an incident in Birmingham, Alabama, the New York Fire Officers declared in a resolution; “This shameful and deplorable conduct by the City of Birmingham . . . has brought discredit to the honorable status of professional firefighters.”
Following Ferguson, Duval County (FL) GOP Secretary Kim A. Crenier posted advice on Twitter that Ferguson police should use hoses against protesters. Although hoses and水cannons have been used internationally by police to quell protests, most people equate their use with firefighters and fire departments, and fire departments are generally suspected of working with local law enforcement.
Reacting to peaceful protests that included blocking major highways, the New Brunswick (NJ) Police Chaplains Group included in a statement; “By disrupting traffic along these busy highways, ambulances, fire trucks, and other emergency response vehicles are slowed down or prevented from responding to an emergency.” Protesters blocking I-93 in Boston, Massachusetts, and subsequent traffic prevented an ambulance transporting a cardiac patient to its initial hospital destination. According to WKYC in Cleveland, Ohio, as protesters blocked the public square, a firetruck在紧急响应中被短暂阻止。在加利福尼亚州圣马特奥，抗议者阻止了圣马特奥 - 海伍德桥的两个方向。这种阻止交通的策略导致机动车撞车并阻止了应急车辆对事件的反应。尽管紧急交通的阻塞可能并不常见，但在抗议或暴动之后做出回应并不是如此。尽管消防部门竭尽全力保持中立，但与执法部门建立的关系以及在这些事件期间涉及的危险使其具有挑战性。
One complaint about the Ferguson (MO) Police Department (FPD) and other cities since is that the department’s makeup did not reflect the diversity of the community. Diversity in the fire department is not new, but public safety agencies will be under scrutiny. In a 2006 diversityinitiativeby the International Association of Fire Fighters,Achieving and Retaining a Diverse Fire Service Workforce, attempted to identify effective recruitment, selection, and retention practices to achieve a fire service workforce that reflects the community served. The report includes obstacles to overcome and success stories. Included areThe Top 8 Effective Measures used by Most Successful Fire Departments。他们跟随：
- Word of mouth.
- Formal advertising, especially when targeted to desired group.
- 直接邮件。
- 学员/资源管理器计划。
- News stories.
- Diversity/inclusion messages: Showing diversity in recruitment messages and internal communications.
- Job fairs/community events/churches/school.
- Candidatepreparation：候选人和员工协助和指导。
Another impediment is the balance between a diverse workforce and hiring the best person for the job. The two can conflict because the best person for the job may not meet the diversity needs of your department.
Following an investigation by the Justice Department, the FPD the report stated that “Ferguson’s approach to law enforcement both reflects and reinforces racial bias, including stereotyping.” The investigation uncovered racially biased e-mails and jokes, some of which referenced President Obama and the First Lady.
Now is the time to learn from Ferguson. The fire service is not immune to the after-effects of Ferguson. It’s time to now to not just draft policy, but to enforce it. E-mails sent with racial, sexual, religious, or other biases by a few will reflect on the department as a whole. Actions taken as a result of enforcement are as important as the policy itself. Fire service leaders need to read reports coming in as a result of Ferguson or similar investigations and examine operations. A complaint with these biases in delayed emergency responses or patient care and possible civil action, which will take your department years to regain public trust. As TV host Stephen Colbert said, “Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It’s certainty.”
Apprehension, a result of Ferguson and other protests nationwide, is the militarization of police departments. In an interview, when Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) was asked about police actions in Ferguson, the Senator said she thought officers went too far with a militarization response that was more of a problem then a solution. “I think it escalated the situation, it didn’t deescalate the situation,” McCaskill said. She said her goal has been to get the police force to stop using “military responses” and “see if we can’t get back to good, solid police work that keeps the protesters safe.”
In an interview with national news after addressing 200 top law enforcement officers from across the country gathered in Chicago by the Police Executive Research Forum, Colonel Jon Belmar said, “I think we have to look at this from another vantage point.” Belmar said the heavy-armored trucks and some of the military-style equipment used by police during unrest in Ferguson helped keep civilians and law enforcement officers safe. Actions of officers have been broadly criticized and have spurred a national debate about the militarization of local law enforcement agencies.
With the challenges of safety and protection of first responders a primary concern, it’s difficult to find the proper balance as rules change based on the incident. When a terrorist threat or active shooter incident occurs, the community expects that public safety agencies will respond with every possible resource. Militarization is no longer a consideration. In the event of a mass casualty (MCI)/fatality incident or threat, the resulting question will be why wasn’t the department(s) better prepared? There also continues to be an expectation from the public that first responders must take unnecessary life-saving risks because “that’s what they’re paid for.”
弗格森（MO）消防局助理史蒂夫·费尔（Steve Fair）在接受新闻台KSDK的采访时说，在骚乱期间，该部门吵架了大约25个结构大火，其中包括一辆汽车经销店，其中有10辆汽车丢失。在圣路易斯和圣查尔斯县的帮助下，费尔说，由于枪声，很难发动进攻。这不是第一次消防员，紧急医疗服务（EMS）技术人员和护理人员在履行职责时被枪杀。这包括四名韦伯斯特（纽约）消防员，他们于2012年12月24日被伏击并开枪，杀死了两人，两人受伤。这重新打开了一个问题：消防员和紧急医务人员应该穿防弹背心吗？他们应该武装吗？
美国消防局/联邦紧急管理机构报告消防/紧急医疗服务部门的操作注意事项和主动射手和大规模伤亡事件指南was issued in September 2013 with the goal to maximize survival of responders. The report recommends providing appropriate protective gear to personnel exposed to risks. Considerations, planning, and interagency training should occur around the concept of properly trained, armored medical personnel who are escorted into areas of mitigated risk, which are clear but not secure areas to execute triage and medical stabilization at the point of wounding and to provide for evacuation or sheltering-in-place. With an ongoing ballistic or explosive threat, under the protection of law enforcement officers, teams treat, stabilize, and remove the injured rapidly while wearing ballistic protective equipment,
该战略计划于2013年12月由联邦机构EMS委员会发布，并于2010年3月的利益相关者会议上发表了国家EMS咨询委员会（NEMSAC）的建议。为了增强EMS提供商的保护免受他们面临的日常职业危害的影响，建议将防弹背心发出给EMS提供商。早在2008年，Chapel Hill（NC）消防局的首席丹·琼斯（Dan Jones）承认对第一响应者的风险不断增长，并申请了联邦消防法案个人保护设备（PPE）的赠款。其他部门已经采取步骤发行背心。费尔菲尔德（CA）消防局准备发行背心。In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the City of Los Angeles (CA) Fire Deparment Battalion Chief Matt Luckenbach said, “Our role has increased significantly into scenes that are ‘secure.’ When law enforcement goes in … nowadays it’s kind of working right on their heels.”
Following these recommendations, FEMA’s Grants Program Directorate Policy FP 104-010-035-1 was released in April 2014. Its purpose was to define funding from the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) and Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP) funding to enable the purchase of ballistic protective equipment (BPE) for fire/rescue and EMS personnel, whose duties may include responses to active shooter incidents, MCIs, and entries into a “warm zone” to support the rapid triage, treatment, and extrication of the wounded. As a result, fire and EMS departments across the county are purchasing BPE.
由于担心在巴黎，英国的查理·希伯多（Charlie Hebdo）袭击之后，国际上有类似的袭击，英国消防员和护理人员已被签发。瑞典消防员现在在穆斯林地区或在清真寺举行的国庆日庆祝BPE。自2007年以来，温尼伯，多伦多，卡尔加里和加拿大其他地区的医护人员也一直穿着背心。
联邦机构的推荐,National EMS Advisory committee, and the responsibility to keep fire and EMS responders safe, BPE appears to be on the of the next advances in PPE. With departments having to do a risk-benefit analysis based on the demographics of their jurisdictions, it may appear to some citizens that the fire department is also becoming militarized. However, with many documented cases of fire and EMS personnel now under attack, it appears that BPE is the next step in the evolution of PPE. With the idea that nothing is more important than the safety of first responders, it’s one the fire service can’t ignore.
Situational awareness is paramount to success. The fire service must use Ferguson as a catalyst to look within our own departments.
D. Brady Rogers退休的船长/转变指挥官的分erville-Osterville-Marstons Mills Department of Fire-Rescue & Emergency Services after 37 years of service. He has a master’s degree in public administration, he is an accredited chief fire officer with the Center for Public Safety Excellence, and he is an Executive Fire Officer Program graduate. Rogers is also an adjunct instructor for the Massachusetts Maritime and National Fire Academy.
