Critical thinking

Pt2. The Way First Responders View Critical Incidents

Introduction

Generally speaking, law enforcement is first on the scene of a critical incident although depending on the proximity to a firehouse, an ambulance or firetruck may arrive first. In most jurisdictions, if an ambulance is dispatched, a firetruck goes with it and vice versa. The role for law enforcement is different from that of firemen and EMT’s. Police have to clear the threat before firemen and EMT’s go in to treat the wounded. All play a critical role and are interdependent to some extent.  For this assignment, we will focus on the role of law enforcement, bearing in mind that what they do has a direct effect on how and when the wounded can get treatment, fires can be extinguished, areas declared structurally safe, free of explosive devises, etc.

Instructions

Read the following Critical Incident Manual California Government Critical Incident Manual (Links to an external site.)   (pages 1-19 and 89-90 only).

You are a Captain of The Happy Land Police Department. You have been assigned the task to conduct training for the officers in your department, adjoining jurisdictions, the local Fire Department, and EMS. The scenario will be a 20- story building that has 2 active shooters somewhere below the 6th floor. Elevators have been disabled. It is believed that approximately 375 employees are in the building, although some may have escaped by now.  You have two primary areas in which to train your students: Team Building and anything related to the media. Utilizing any information learned from the parts of the manual you just read and any other relevant information you found through research do the following:

· Describe what you would say to the students about team building. Why is it important? Can this be a matter of life and death? Without team building, what could go wrong and why?

· Devise a detailed plan for handling the media in an effective manner. How will you deal with difficult questions, with accusations, with asking you to speculate, etc.? What about staging areas, timed briefings, assigning a PIO, etc. Consider what if’s and be detailed with your training.