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SAN FRANCISCO – Representatives from the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, California National Guard and California Office of Emergency Services participated in a Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) senior leadership seminar to discuss and build upon the roles, responsibilities, and capabilities of emergency services during a catastrophic event, Oct. 4-5.
The seminar was based on several specific emergency response strategies, including operational communications, public health and medical services, mass care services, situational assessment, critical transportation, public information and dissemination strategies, incident action planning, services and resources, mass search and rescue operations, and on-scene security and protection.
“There are certain scenarios and certain hazards where it’s going to need to be 'all hands on deck’,” said Crystal R. Chambers, emergency manager for the City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department. "We need the full strength of everyone’s resources to minimize the losses that come with catastrophic disasters. ”
The result of an actual disaster can cause exponential damages to a community. The damages of the disaster may exceed the capability and readiness of local agencies to provide aid. The partnerships and relationships among emergency respondents developed at leadership events like this help ensure optimal assistance can be provided.
“At these DCSA conferences, we build the relationships of all the emergency services with government entities,” said Bryan Caraveo, DSCA planner for Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet. “The conferences help us get a better understanding of what each emergency organization is capable of. Knowing the people and the organization that we would be working with in the event of an earthquake is so important just so we will be able to work together better.”
The seminar provided an opportunity for experts to convene and develop a better understanding of how to prepare a response to both general and specific real-world catastrophes.
“The natural disasters and emergency situations seem to be getting worse and worse as time goes on,” said Frank Schott, vice president of global programs at NetHope. “It’s not a matter of if but when a disaster is going to happen on the West Coast. The Earth is constantly moving and the climate is constantly changing, so it’s just a matter of time.”
Attendees also had the opportunity to introduce new strategies and ideas on disaster response and to cement in place strategies that have worked in past evolutions.
“This is now the eighth iteration of this [DSCA] senior leader symposium, and the topic has never been more relevant and the effort has never been more important,” said Navy Vice Adm. John D. Alexander, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet. “We’re gaining a better understanding of how each of our organizations operate and the capabilities we can contribute to the effort.”
Earlier this week, medical and emergency response personnel from the San Francisco Department of Public Health, California Emergency Medical Services Authority, Navy and Marine Corps demonstrated their ability to work jointly in response to a local disaster, while participating at a DSCA exercise emphasizing medical capabilities held at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. Sailors and Marines participated in an urban search and rescue interoperability training exercise with members of the San Francisco Fire Department and Northern California Rescue Training, and military and civilian medical personnel participated in a peer-to-peer medical exchange where they discussed future medical surge and disaster response exercises.
For more information on DSCA, vist: http://www.dsca.mil.
For more news from Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/c3f/.
| Date Taken: | 10.04.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 10.04.2017 21:59 |
| Story ID: | 250621 |
| Location: | SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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