EMSWORLD.com | JULY 2016 25
AMR plans to enhance its internal communications at future
incidents with a dedicated dispatcher pulled from other daily calls,
and it may start tapping surrounding AMR operations for manag-
ers, administrators and other personnel to backfill positions when
its leaders are occupied at a big event.
A final point, Molloy notes, is to not let personnel get distracted
by what they perceive an MCI should look like.
"People need to have an open mind and be adaptable to the situ-
ation," he says. "We had a lot of law enforcement presence, and it
was a difficult thing for some of our folks because they were coming
in unmarked vehicles, and we didn't know who was who. It wasn't
until later that we figured out these were the good guys. But help
can come in any shape and form during an incident."
A lesson not unique to San Bernardino but that bears repeating is
not to neglect the emotional and psychological well-being of those
who respond to disasters. Responders to the IRC got mandatory
group crisis team intervention starting the night of the incident
and continuing into the next week. They were also offered and
encouraged to accept individual sessions.
Even besides the IED and Twitter threats, there were aspects of
the response that lingered for Crews.
"One of them was hearing 'San Bernardino, California' all over
the news and coming out of the president's mouth," she says. "It
was so real, I couldn't handle it. I got mad at that, at hearing it over
and over. I didn't like watching the news; I didn't want to connect
the victims to those faces I saw at the scene. That was very hard."
It was hard too for Molloy, whose family friend Robert Adams
was among those killed.
"You're frustrated and you're mad, and what do you do with
that?" he asks. "The shooters were dead, so I can't even say justice
was served. But in the days following, you almost have to be like a
cheerleader for the troops. You have folks out there who are nervous.
I had people come to me and ask, 'What do we do if we go out on
these calls?' And while I'm thinking I hope this doesn't happen, you
have to rely on your training and say, 'We're gonna suit up and go
out and take care of our citizens.' But you're definitely worrying
about scene safety and the area around you.
"You can't take the attitude that it's never going to happen to
you," he adds. "Terrorism and IEDs and active shooters are a real-
ity today, and people need to prepare for it. If you train for it and
it never happens, then amen to that. But you have to be ready."
R E F E R E N C E
1. www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/world/read-the-criminal-complaint-against-enrique-
marquez-friend-of-san-bernardino-shooter-who-provided-rifes/1917/?refresh&tid;=a_inl.
For More Information Circle 23 on Reader Service Card
Carly Crews and Dave Molloy
will present "Terror in San
Bernardino," which focuses
on the experiences of the
two agencies and the lessons
learned.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
EMSWorldExpo.com