Chainsaws evaluated at Disaster City

Emergency responders recently took part in a System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) chainsaw evaluation at Disaster City. SAVER is sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security and is designed to test equipment used by emergency responders. Equipment is evaluated in five different categories and responders can decide which category – or combination of categories – most fits their needs.

See the video below to learn more about SAVER and the recent chainsaw evaluation.

Outdoor Channel films at TEEX

This week, several people representing the Outdoor Channel were at TEEX to film portions of a 10-episode series titled, The Best Defense: Survival. The series will focus on how individuals, families and communities can plan, prepare and protect themselves from all sorts of natural or man-made disasters.

Show host and series director Michael Bane explains the show in detail, and why they wanted to use TEEX facilities and subject-matter experts in the video below.



Not only did much of the filming for the series take place at Disaster City®, the Brayton Fire Training Field and the Emergency Operations Training Center, but TEEX and other entities of
The Texas A&M University System were able to provide subject-matter experts for each of the 10 episodes.

The show topics will include the following:
- Pandemic Events
- Localized Weather (flooding, tornadoes)
- Economic Collapse
- Earthquake
- Wildfires / Urban Fires
- Chemical Spills / HAZMAT
- Riots / Urban Unrest
- Dirty Bomb / Terrorism
- Nuclear Event
- A wrap-up show

The series is set to premier the first week of July and will be aired on Wednesday nights. Check your local listings to learn more.

Director’s Take: TEEX’s Pandemic Flu Preparedness Training

NOTE: The pictures in this post were taken at the 2007 and 2008 Texas State-Level Pandemic Influenza Modified Full-Scale Exercises.

The recent spread of influenza A (H1N1), more commonly called “swine flu,” has brought preparedness for such events to the forefront.

Are local public health officials and their partners in the local public health system prepared for events such as this recent swine flu phenomenon? If so, how did they become prepared?

They participate in training, of course.

TEEX pandemic flu training:

For more than three years our National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center has facilitated pandemic influenza preparedness through planning assistance and mass prophylaxis training. The mass prophylaxis preparedness training originally started with a grant in 2004 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and now the course is fully funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Mass Prophylaxis is the capability to protect the health of the population through the administration of critical interventions (antibiotics, vaccinations, antivirals, etc.) in response to a public health emergency in order to prevent the development of disease among those who are exposed or are potentially exposed to public health threats.

The centerpiece of TEEX’s pandemic influenza training is a course called “Bioterrorism: Mass Prophylaxis Preparedness and Planning.” This course is a guide for local health officials and their partners in the local public health system to coordinate plans to provide mass distribution of pharmaceuticals for the jurisdiction as they relate to the Division of Strategic National Stockpile (DSNS) program.

The purpose of this course is to enhance a jurisdiction’s preparedness and emergency response efforts by developing (or revising) a plan addressing an all-hazards approach towards mass prophylaxis. The course is delivered by two public health professionals and consists of a combination of lectures, small group activities, and a tabletop exercise.

Evaluated by the Texas A&M Health Science Center’s School of Rural Public Health, the course awards 16 contact hours of continuing education for doctors, nurses and public health professionals. This year we have conducted twenty-one deliveries of this course all across the USA, trained over 600 people, and has over thirty course deliveries scheduled between now and the end of November.

The feedback for the course delivery has been extremely positive:

Mary Lynne Thames, PhD, LSU Health Science Center School of Public Health: “I just wanted to thank you for a wonderfully successful two days of training. We received nothing but positive feedback from those in attendance. I look forward to another opportunity to bring you and your team this way.”

Susan McNabb, Volunteer Coordinator, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department: “I wanted to drop you a line to let you know what a fantastic job you all did with the training and exercise last week. The health department staff, as well as the outside agencies’ representatives who attended, all learned a tremendous amount. Our EMA [Emergency Management Agency] Director is already in the process of scheduling a meeting with the mayor which will include our health department administrator.”

Learn more:

For more information about pandemic flu preparedness training, contact Phil Allum: phil.allum@teexmail.tamu.edu.

Leadership Brazos Visits Riverside Campus

Check out the video and click here to view a slideshow of the day's events.

Director's Take: Ready for anything at any time

NOTE: The pictures published throughout this blog post were taken at the full-scale exercise held at Disaster City® on March 28-29, 2009.

Disasters are unpredictable. Researchers and scientists are in a constant struggle to try to determine when and where the next big earthquake will strike or where a hurricane is going to make landfall.

The inability to predict Mother Nature not only causes difficulty to researchers and scientists, but the professionals who respond to the incidents must be ready for anything at any time.

Every year, the state’s elite search and rescue team – Texas Task Force 1 (TX-TF1) – immerses itself in a full-scale exercise to practice its skills and the logistics necessary to respond at a moment’s notice.

This year, members of TX-TF1 responded – as it does every year – to Disaster City®, TEEX’s world-famous search and rescue training ground. The fictional scenario to which they responded was a devastating earthquake along the New Madrid Fault System which caused devastation to a town in Tennessee.

You may find yourself wondering why a search and rescue team from Texas is training to respond to an earthquake. Other than the West Coast, the New Madrid Seismic Zone presents the highest earthquake risk in the United States and, because of its geographic location, TX-TF1 would be called to respond if a large earthquake were to happen there. Again … responders must be ready for anything at any time.

But not only do these types of exercises prepare TX-TF1 for an earthquake response, it helps prepare one of the most active search and rescue teams in the country for any response. The skills to rescue a person from a rubble pile are basically the same, no matter how the rubble pile was created.

The point is that all types of scenarios – man-made or naturally occurring – create damage and destruction to property and people. Isn’t it reassuring to know that we have highly-trained people who participate in exercises like the one we recently conducted in Disaster City®?

More than 70 members of TX-TF1 rescued more than 250 volunteer victims from Disaster City® during the exercise. The volunteers were comprised of students at Texas A&M, citizens of the surrounding area and even two people who drove in from Mexico City solely to volunteer for the exercise. The volunteers spent time out of their weekend to be trapped in rubble piles, collapsed buildings and a train derailment all in the name of helping prepare our responders for the next response.

Because we are fortunate to have the training facilities we have and access to the country’s leading response experts, TEEX has helped train thousands of responders from other parts of the country, while actively engaging in responses to catastrophic events.

In fact, TX-TF1 has responded to many significant events in its 11-year history, ranging from the World Trade Center to hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Dolly and Ike, among many others.

Ironically, the very same weekend the exercise was taking place, four members of TX-TF1 were requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to deploy to the Red River Valley in North Dakota to provide logistical, communication and equipment support to local officials in the area. One more time … responders must be ready for anything at any time.

Because of the training we provide, I’m confident our responders are, indeed, ready.

Can TEEX courses lead to a college degree?

They can.

Our agency is best known for providing world-class training and technical assistance, whether it’s in areas of safety, search and rescue, EMS, firefighting, law enforcement, public works, manufacturing or economic development. But TEEX’s instructor workforce and quality of curriculum are so respected that genuine opportunities now exist to qualify our classes for academic credit in colleges and universities.

Example 1: San Juan College, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Let’s say you’re a safety professional who already holds a TEEX Certified Safety & Health Official (CSHO) certification. Thanks to our relationship with San Juan College in New Mexico and with Texas A&M University-Commerce, you can receive 18 hours of college credit and complete degree requirements online. We’re working on a similar arrangement with Francis Tuttle Technology Center, located in Oklahoma.

Example 2: West Texas A&M University
Here’s another example: Through a TEEX partnership with West Texas A&M University, emergency services personnel are able to earn a bachelor’s degree in Emergency Management Administration through distance-learning. The goal of this degree program is to prepare students for advanced levels of administration and management within the emergency service community. Graduates walk away with the ability to interact effectively with law enforcement, public works, and city and county officials of all levels.

Example 3: Blinn College
And if you live in close proximity of our College Station, Texas, headquarters – and you’re seeking a career in law enforcement – you should know about TEEX’s agreement with Blinn College.

Blinn criminal justice students now are able to participate in TEEX's Central Texas Police Academy as a component of their associate in applied science degree. TEEX police academy faculty then provides classroom and hands-on field application and training experiences for qualified Blinn students. Under this agreement, students will have access to the 2,000-acre Texas A&M Riverside Campus for the practical field experiences they need to work as police officers: a firing range, driving track and residential prop houses that provide realistic scenarios. This agreement expands the offerings Blinn and TEEX already provide that place a semester at our world-renowned Brayton Fire Training Field into the fire science certificate and degree curriculum.

Surprised?
The above examples are the seedlings that allow TEEX-trained professionals to pursue an academic education through a wide range of community colleges and universities. In fact, it’s among the strategic initiatives that are core to our agency. Providing our students with professional options and practical relevance to their respective career aspirations is immensely rewarding for us. I hope you feel the same way.

Want to learn more about opportunities with TEEX? Visit us at TEEX.org.

Advances in firefighting showcased at Annual Spring School

NOTE: The photos in this blog post are of students pre-planning inside the Henry D. Smith Building at the Brayton Fire Training Field.

TEEX’s Annual Summer Fire Training School, held each July at Brayton Fire Training Field, is the most publicized and recognized three weeks in agency’s training calendar. But this week, another part of the Annual School Program – all be it significantly smaller – is bringing emerging technologies to the forefront of firefighting.

Each March for the past 21 years, TEEX has hosted the Spring Fire Training School and, this year, a record 361 students are enrolled in the week-long event.

“In the summer, we run the traditional programs like firefighting, rescue, fire prevention and investigation – to name a few,” said Harvie Cheshire, Training Manager of the Annual Schools Program. “In the spring, we offer more specialty courses where we go to a more advanced level. We also bring in new classes which focus on new technologies, ideas and innovations.”

One of those new classes is Advanced Municipal Fire Operations, Pre-Response Information Management Exercises, or AMFO PRIME.

Mike Montgomery, the Director/Fire Marshal for Harris County, Texas, is one of the guest instructors for the AMFO PRIME course. He’s one of 61 guest instructors at TEEX’s Spring School this year.

According to Montgomery, pre-planning has been very important to fire departments for a long time and it allows firefighters to get familiar with buildings and structures in their response area and jurisdiction.

“Firefighters are curious,” Montgomery said. “We want to know what is going on inside the building. It allows us to manage risks better if we have a better understanding of what we are getting into. When you are called to a fire at 2 a.m., it’s not the ideal time to have your first experience with the building.”

Traditionally, pre-planning information is stored in some sort of paper form, whether it be maps, diagrams or literally hundreds of documents to help firefighters to be aware of their surroundings.

“It seems like we have pre-planned since the beginning of time,” Montgomery added. “But it has been difficult to institutionalize. The maps and files that you have to carry are too cumbersome.”

And there’s the problem.

The solution: Technology.

1. Fire departments are now able to use technology to their favor by storing data on servers and accessing it through laptops or from computers in the fire engine itself.

2. Digital photography can accompany the pre-plans.

3. There are prepackaged and customized software to help draw building diagrams.

4. Diagrams can be super-imposed onto Google Earth or MapQuest maps so firefighters know fire hydrant locations, fire department access lane locations and obstructions that may interfere with a truck’s ability to get into a location. You can also mark hazardous entities on the maps –septic tanks and hazardous materials locations – to name a few.

Montgomery said the ultimate goal is to get all the information to a common clearing house where it would be available to all fire departments, law enforcement agencies and other first responders. In some instances, the information is becoming an integral part of a communities’ emergency plan.

“Regardless of whether it’s a fire, weather disaster or terrorist incident, the information is useful,” Montgomery said. “The information is being gathered and stored and now it’s easier to manage and be used by others.”