Photo By Master Sgt. Daniel Griego | In this image, Sgt. 1st Class William Gee (left) of the 6th Civil Support Team,...... read more read more
SAN ANTONIO - Each year, dozens of response agencies, businesses, and government offices convene in San Antonio, for the state's Emergency Management Conference, a four-day event that enhances joint operations through shared practices, networking, and lessons learned from real world incidents. This years gathering, rebranded as the Texas Emergency Management & Homeland Security Conference and held May 12-15, continued the tradition of inviting the Texas National Guard to demonstrate their skills and competence in the event of disaster.
"We're learning how we can better our capabilities with the civilian entities and all the other organizations throughout the state that we could potentially be working with in the case of an emergency or a natural disaster," said 1st Lt. Ragnar Jamieson, the deputy communications officer for Joint Task Force 136 (Maneuver Enhancement Brigade).
This National Guard element recently achieved the milestone of their second successful Homeland Response Force external evaluation, certifying them to work alongside civilian first responders during a mass casualty incident as a support force in the fight to save lives. This mission is part of the chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear consequence management enterprise that combats the increased threat of contamination during an emergency.
"What we talked about was the CBRN enterprise and what the Texas Military Forces in particular can bring to the local first responders," said Lt. Col. William Phillips, the commander for the 6th Civil Support Team, "particularly the incident commander, who's going to be trying to manage the disaster scene. We went through the various levels of response from just the CST coming out to possibly involving the CERFP and if necessary, the HRF to come out and respond as well."
The 6th CBRN Enhanced Response Force Package is the subordinate element of JTF-136 (MEB) that provides the decontamination, search and extraction, and medical services when activated to support civil authorities.
"I handed out a lot of business cards and made a lot of really good contacts," said Phillips. "The networking part of this conference is really important. On site at the disaster is not where you want to start building the relationships, you want to have that already."
The Guardsmen did as much learning as they did sharing during the week, participating in breakout sessions, discussions, and vendor demonstrations to develop their understandings of how their civilian counterparts operate.
"It lets the public know what your role is in the event of a disaster," said Texas State Trooper Bobbie Barrera, speaking on behalf of the Texas Highway Patrol. "There is more than just one person or one entity involved. It combines all of us. We can't do it by ourselves, so we need everyone's help to make disaster response better."
Workshop discussions included the fertilizer plant explosion last year in West, Texas, incorporation of social media in emergency responses, interdepartmental communications, and many others. The opportunity to compare and contrast available assets ensures that when the time comes, lives will be saved for the cooperative effort.
"Some of our communications systems are much more robust because they're made to be tactical as opposed to the civilian entities," said Jamieson. "We definitely bring something to the table that can be used to help accomplish that mission."
Events like the Texas Emergency Management & Homeland Security Conference ensure that the state will be prepared when called upon to save lives. When different agencies know each other and are familiar with each other's capabilities, their efficiency and communication improves.
"It's like old friendships being renewed, said Phillips. "It's very important that they understand who we are and what we do and that we're here to help them, and that's really coming across."
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2014 16:29 |
| Story ID: | 130363 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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