HISTORY
East Jefferson Fire Rescue (EJFR) partnered with a number of local, state and federal agencies to conduct a joint training exercise in Port Townsend on Saturday, May 2. The training consisted of a Multiple Casualty Incident (MCI) drill on board the Washington State Ferry Kennewick.
The training exercise had been timed to coincide with the weekend the Washington State Department of Transportation closed the Port Townsend – Coupeville ferry route to conduct maintenance on the Coupeville terminal transfer span.
When Helmut Steele, emergency management coordinator for the ferry system learned of the planned closing, he reached out to EJFR Deputy Chief Ted Krysinski. As it turns out, the ferry system had been attempting to stage an MCI drill on board a ferry for nearly two and a half years and Steele knew of Krysinski’s interest in conducting a drill for local public safety personnel.
“Typically, these kinds of interagency drills take close to six months to plan,” D/C Krysinski said. “In our case, we had less than 45 days to pull it off.”
As the drill date loomed, the complexity increased with each additional organization that came on board. By May 2, participating agencies included EJFR, Washington State Ferries, Jefferson County FPD #5, Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue, Quilcene Fire & Rescue, United States Coast Guard, Navy Region Northwest Fire and Emergency Services, Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue, Port Townsend Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Oak Harbor Police Department, Island County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management, JEFFCOM and Jefferson Healthcare. Representatives from Seattle Fire Department’s Marine Emergency Response Team (MERT) and U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Interdiction Specialty Team (MIST) were also on hand.
GOALS
In 2013, the Puget Sound Marine Firefighting Consortium and USCG, under the Marine Terrorism Response Plan Update Initiative, conducted a series of table top exercises. In the after action report, several areas of improvement were identified. These became the primary goals of this training opportunity:
- Exercise shore-based command and control with the WSF
- Establish communications with involved agencies utilizing Incident Command System under Unified Command
- Establish and coordinate a Joint Information System/Joint Information Center (JIS/JIC)
- Conduct law enforcement agency training for an on-board MCI
SCENARIO
The drill involved a simulated active shooter on board the Kennewick after it had left the Port Townsend dock. By the time the shooter was neutralized by an off-duty police officer on board, more than 20 passengers had been killed or wounded.
The Kennewick captain became the initial incident commander and turned the vessel around to return to the Port Townsend ferry dock after the shooter was neutralized. There, the ferry was met by local law enforcement who swept the ferry to secure the scene before fire/EMS personnel boarded to begin triaging and treating patients. In an effort to stress the local hospital, Jefferson Healthcare, six patients were then transported to the Emergency Department.
The drill plans included air operations with regional aircraft in both actual and notional deployment.
LESSONS LEARNED
The drill proved valuable in exposing several issues. As expected, communication between the ferry captain and shore-based fire and law enforcement units was difficult.
Also, ferry personnel experienced some difficulty accurately identifying both the number of passengers and the number of patients on board.
The drill made evident the value provided by public information officers within the context of a Public Affairs Bureau. Trained PIOs are capable of providing advice and guidance to incident commanders both during incidents and before they occur, with the understanding that public and media perception of an incident is a significant element and must be actively managed for overall success.
Finally, coordination of command and control proved to be a challenge. Specifically, ferry incident commanders and on-shore fire and EMS leaders weren’t able to effectively communicate in real time.
“These types of exercises are designed to stress our systems and personnel,” D/C Krysinski said. “Through this drilling process, we identify weaknesses in our operations, communication and personnel. Real success comes in the following months when we put together plans to address those issues.”