The response to any disaster determines the lives saved and the ability to move on from the catastrophes. The I-35W bridge collapse in 2007 was one of the most catastrophic incidents Minneapolis had faced in the state’s history (U.S. Fire Administration. 2007). The bridge collapse was complicated and required the best possible strategy to save lives and protect further property loss and damage. In any disaster, the ability to rescue victims and reduce the number of casualties determines success or failure. This report discusses three problems and successes learnt from the I-35W bridge collapse responses and addressed the relevance the problems and success have on the National Response Framework (NRF).
Problems
Although the response was satisfactory, there are areas that the response team was lacking that in any other time may have limited the rescue mission. The lack of a Unified Command Post is one of the primary issues. The decentralized Command Posts (CPs) whereby the fire department and the police command had their separate CPs at the beginning of the response resulted in ineffective communication and reduced the success of the other key players (U.S. Fire Administration. 2007). For instance, the emergency medical services (EMS) did not have a single point of contract, as they did not know who was in control of the operations.
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The failure of having a unified CPs resulted in the second problem that were capable of increasing the number of casualties and property damage. The lack of formal safety officer or an assistant led to the failure of the police and EMS personnel to comply with the commands by the Incident Commander (IC) to evacuate the bridge (U.S. Fire Administration. 2007). These issues complicated the safety problems because the most critical thing to evacuate the bridge and provide cognizant warning and signs. The chain of command is vital to ensure that the personnel to ensure smooth communication and taking responsibilities. Lastly, the multiple transportation groups established to transport the patients to the hospitals made it challenging for patient follow up. According to the NRF, centralized transportation is advised to ensure better follow-ups and communication. The essence that only 20% patients tracked (U.S. Fire Administration. 2007) during the transportation demonstrates that decentralized transportation interferes with tracking of patients or victims.
Success
The failures in most disaster responses, lack of cooperation between the states and the federal response teams and governments are the most dominant factor. The collaboration and healthy working relationship between all key players ensured that the response was a success. The strong support and early intervention of the federal government and workforce ensured that the response was smooth. The efficiency was mainly due to undertaking the FEMA’s integrated emergency management course together that ensured that they were conversant with each other and were knowledgeable in disaster management (U.S. Fire Administration. 2007). The qualified task force and expertise cohesion during ensured better safety measures and quicker evacuations.
The second major success was on the adoption of technology to enhance response and aid in recovery efforts. The Web-based GIS that reviewed live pictures of the process and the municipal Wi-Fi was tried. The live coverage ensures that the victims’ families and the entire nation were able to witness the tragedy, which resulted in help and financial support to boost the rate of the recovery process (U.S. Fire Administration. 2007). Lastly, the quick evaluation of the bridge stability enabled the quick evacuations thus limiting further victims that further collapse would have resulted in if the evacuations were slow.
Relevance to the NRF
The problems and successes of the incident helped cement some of the principles and aided the introduction of some valuable aspects during disaster management. The lack of a Unified Command Post and the multiple transportation groups challenged the success of the response process. The bridge collapse incident aided provide prove for the NFR principles about unified CPs and single transportation group to enhance smooth response (Homeland Security. 2013). Any doubts on the preference of these recommendations are erased following the incidents. The success demonstrated that technology, expertise, and collaboration of all the task force is needed to ensure successful responses.
References
Homeland Security. (2013). National Response Framework . Fema.gov . Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1914-25045-1246/final_national_response_framework_20130501.pdf
U.S. Fire Administration. (2007). I-35W Bridge Collapse and Response . Usfa.fema.gov . Retrieved November 3, 2017 from https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr_166.pdf
