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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-10-30, Page 15'Patients,' really SDHS volunteers, ger cnecked out in makeshift admitting room Douglas Point in the county, where an explogion could kill or injure the plant's 2,000 people, we would have somethjng to worry abont ,•,he said. Hundreds are killed in touring buses each year, it would hardly be out of the ordinary for 60 to 80 passengers to be involved, in an accident of this type. Where do we get first aid? These questions have to be ,answered, there's no use waiting until it happens to start planning, the chief said. There is always an investi- gatiorl after - ap incident, and if there is any delay, it can be very embarrassing to the'town, county or area in which it happened, he said. The switchboard for the • fire, police, ambulance and hospital is staffed 24 hours daily at the hospital. All these departments could be contacted in a matter of seconds which is a , great 'advantage, he said. • Chief Cairns Said he thinks the Seaforth fire trucks need radios community's resources, the chain of command, and who to contact? • Councillor Ellis said it was a tough question to answer right off the top of, his head. Disastert occur when people least expect , them, when people are eating supper ; er 'a 'telephone rings in the. middle of the night. . "I don't imagine anyone has given it any thought, no one thinks of • a disaster until it , . happens, that's ' probably something council should discuss, their role in a disaster", Mr. Ellis said. Mayor Betty Cardno said: "I don't.know if you need an overall top dog, if everyone knows their - own job." She doesn't see the mayor getting involved 'unless it is to read the riot act. "I don't see elected ,officials 4. getting involved. I can see them getting involved in management, arranging equipment if needed, emergency funds, and answering calls for help. (Continued on 7A), SEAFORTH, ONTARI6,:OCTOBER 80, 1975 rr 'Victim ' carried,into hospital on 'stretcher during Mock disaster involved emergency in hospital corridors'' isaster planning sing any andis itne -many pieces to-pick up ifa nuclear the fire chief would be in charge, attack occurs. a riot, the police, tk,tornado, the ,,National Disaster , maypr. M • But 'any natural ',disasters , , He said the first person he'd could occur. It could be a mine call in a disaster would be the collapse • in Gederich, k nuclear, mayor because she sits - On all explosion at • Douglas Point, ,a committees, has the power to act, plan crash with many•lanl level. knows ho to contact at the passengers on board, flooding o and 'tornadoes. Mr. Sills aid he never did see A* the county level there i. no the importance of EMO in the ox 4 .nization, or plan to deal ith county, because it's just another type of disaster. channel, "I would soon er go to Frank Sills, ex-mayor the too, to the province." Seaforth and member of the lotal Police Chief John Cairns said in fire brigade for 22 yearssaid the case of an air crash, he would there isn't any partietdar otify l the 'n earest airport, who committeein the town of Seaforth ould send federal investigators pselat nning. up to deal with disaiter determine the cause. The main job of the police is to He said five years ago the to safeguard life and property, that had a very heavy snowfall, th t means assisting traffic control, left residents snowbound or and allowing rescue personnel three days. into the area. He remember that he as m yor Chief Cairns who has been two and a few councillors had a.,(1 ic, and a half years in Seaforth, said meeting, and appointed aOlia to be in charge of rescue. This required setting up a 24-hour service' with snowmobile club members getting supplies to the elderly in the communiy. "In a small town like this everybody knows pretty well -who would have difficulty getting out," Mr. Sills said. Any other local disasters were large fires, and these occurred before the fire area board was established, but they still had a. mutual aid system. John F.„„Uott, the fire chief at that time had the powerto call in extra help. He remembers the . Ball-Macauley fire was large, and he had to put out embers on the roof of the Sills. block. ' As a child, he remembers what he calls "a little hit of earth- quake" that rattled dishes on the • because *ey should be in ruin contagtkwith the hospital to let them know what's going on,. He said, he thought disaster planning should be, discussed at the local and county-wide level with ,a plan of operation being laid 'down. If he got a call about, a local disaster or saw it happen, 'the first people he would call would be the police, because they have more training than anyone elie. The natural thing would be to go to the police, Councillor Wayne Ellis, chairman of the police committee, said. Should the councillors meet at the town , hall,. and wait for requests for them to act, try to help or stay at home and out of the way? • How Much? One of the first people to be called, could be a councillor. How much does he know about the worked in the hospital office, and with other office workers was pressed into carrying litters. • "People responded in the community terrifically, they brought , people in station d wagons," _he remembers, • .* Offers to Help Ike believes a, resole ,squad from etroit even offered to mite across the bridge or tunnel to help out. Detroit is muChi closei, (about one half a mile), than Chatham and there ha always been that type,of co-operation between the • two cities: MF . Mackenzie said there would be value in having a series of , meeting'S orm„a document .prepared to the people in the different departm6nts arX aware of what can be done,"*. tat is available in the community and neighboring comnittilities. It seeMs that each local department works within a larger network, where they can call 'for assistahee if need*, If. more police are required, one call can We-ma:de, and automatically other Story by, Nancy Andrews Photos, HOspital.caUld handle 50 iri emergency, - administrator Gord n Mackenzie says • ....-eeiv Suppose it was Saturday night and more than 500 people were crowded into a local arena to hear one of, thOge loud, )rock bands,. You're more thanhour rate, cfiri and as you ap oath the arena -you hear the ba , and also a kind of droning. The next minute, before you realize what IS happening, the arena lies in rubble, people are dead and injured; the rafters are caved in. An aeroplane , one wing broken, sits on top of the rubble. Unlikely, improbable, it could never happen, but it has and it could. What do you do? A good part of the local citizenry was in that building, but as a few struggle out of the "debris, it is, soon apparent, they will be no help. They/ are in daze, they can't assimilate' what has happened. Who should be contacted, the fire chief, police chief, mayor? 'Hurriedly you reach a phone at a neighboring house, it's an emergency, you search through the book fora number, and dial 524-9163. ' The phone keeps ringing, why doesn't someone, answer that phone? Now this person doesn't realize the Emergency Measures Organization, has been little more than a number in a phone book since 1966 when the county' program was curtailed'. .. - was County Clerk Bill Hanley said a disaster plan was never finalized, For the last few years, the County has given about • $900 for a "caretaker's operation," • ' The government has announced this year that it is withdrawing financial support from the EMO programs. The government has announced this year that it is started at the time of the -bomb scares, wasn't accepted by people *who laughed it off as not necessary. War-Time The program focused on a 'War-time disaster and many of the co-ordinators had past military experience. They were men specially hired for this experience and often came from different parts of the country. The public associated EMO with .war-time disaster and when some co-ordinators tried to shift this concern to natural disasters, few...really listened. 'A meeting of elected officials and co-brdinators met in June in Barrie to discuss the future of the EMO program. They \ established a .co- ordinating body to supply information and appeal to the federal government. They planned to appeal to the federal government on the basis of the need far the EMO to fight both peacetime and wartime disasters. This insistence to include preparition for wartime emergencies may have damaged their cause in Ottawa and throughout the province, -because few really believe there will ,be "The idea i's probably to get together with the people and try to deterine who is to do what," the admi istrator said, " Tam) We're not adverse t \'ioining in, we do control radio and telephone lines," he said: , llte hospital's disaster ' plaip. defines a disas casualities. i time or the facilities of # was a two-day event, with 150 people involved. He said "It was like the real thing, but was strictly training." : The disaster planning almost faded out, after the atom bomb scares, ' but then Scotland experienced some serious air crashes, and , soccer •game disasters. „Chief Cairns said it wasn't unusual to' have. 130,000 at a soccer game, and at one 'of these matches on one occasion a whole:, grandstand collapsed. Chief Cairns said if, for example, some Sunday afternoon a 50 strong motorcycle ging rode into Seaforth, the Ontario Provincial Police could have 200 men in town in. a couple of hours. He said it , wouldn't be very hard to have a 70-person disaster, for this could be the numbers' involved in a bus • accident, municipality pretty quickly. "I think it's a good idea, but I don't know if we would ever have to use the things," he said. If a Boeing 707 crashed in a field in Tuckersmith, it could hold, 400 people, and it did •Mil explode there could 'be a let of cas-ualities. • In that case. the injured would be moved to every hospital "available and quickly. He believes the kii.ovince• has appointed a co-ofainator, who will allocate ambulances to different areas as needed. So if ambulances are needed in Seaforth, some may) be sent from Condon, whibh in turn will get some from 'Chatham to make up for its shortage. Mr. Mackenzie said th'ellayor would • probably have the authority to declare the area a disaster area and get provincial funds if need. Fo'r example, in a snowstorm, the town -might have to be designated a disas,ter area to -get supplies shipped in. Mr. Mackenzie helped'during a department store disaster in the S0's'in Windsor, .ik't that tithe; he • forces , are erted and asked- to • send all th men they can spare. The ambulance and the hospital has a network that can be asked to come to their aid. The fire department can approach neighboring fire area boards, and locally elected .officials 'can appeal to higher government officials. So Ultimately ;„ co-ordination • rrivt remain at the local level with local authotifies• developing disaster plans within their organization, ;and keeping. informed of their-own channels of command. • TOhe prepared it's not eiltough -to knoW what you are to do, but what the other guy is doing and what you're expected to be doing. . If local authoritlis have only a , vague notion whpm to contact, this May cause delays. In times of • crisis, vague notionsguay flee, it's what you know foticertain. the names of Volyntefit; at your- finger tips, the -name. and' - telephone number in easy reach, that saves time trid lives, That's "' what Aisastef planning is all by Liz Watson 'p. p Where could ' we get( the ambulances? ,That is sornetting We should look into, he said. Chief Cairns, said area police chiefs have meetings, but they shonld get together more often. As`far as, he knows, they have no' ,disaster plan, aird Idven't 'ever discussed the procedure to foillOw in a disaster Would Respond "I'm sure this police department and the people of this town would respond to any disaster in the County. From talking to other chiefs I'm sure they'd do the same," he said. Two major concerns would be where to get the necessary equipment for something major and how to transport the bodies to the hospitals. "I think the witole county should get together. One never knows," he said. If we had something like .11 Participants kept a cool head during 1973 'disaster' exercise -r 'Gordon Mackenzie, adminis- trator at Seaforth Community Hospital, said the hospital had a mock disaster in 1973. At that time, about 35 students . were transpo ed from the site of a simula %us accident to the hOspitral. -He hopes to have another disaster exercise to find out how many* .people are available to came back to the hespital on off hontl, and have it arranged so the nearest hospital will contact additional staff. In the future, the hospitals hope to have, a disaster plan that includes Huron and ,Perth In a disaster,, staff must be called, all patients that can, be discharged may, be sent fiome. because the' beds will be needed and diffe'rent areas will be given special designatiOp. ./ . ' Mr. Mackenzie 'said the community has one ambulance, and the hospital would make• arrangements for additional ambulances to be brodght in, ,probably froth as far . away as Lc•ndcin. I, • Mr. *Mackenzid ' said the '1973 Mock disaster hospital could probably' admit about 35 patients, and handle about 50 at the emergency end. Volhnteers The hospital plan calls for volunteers,' stretcher carriers, and workers to help dig people „ out from the .debris. • He said they would like to have a medical team op the scene to give preliminary medical work, and use their medical know-how in 'deciding where the people should be sent. • He thought the senior police . officer would co-ordinate actiyity at the seenend this would require to request and 'arrange transportation to the ' hospital for the injured, and request a medical team be sent. Mr. Mackenzie said he saw the police's role as more than just traffic control, and that volunteers might have „to be-- reeruited to do this, solhe police' could 'deal with more urged matters: • "I don't relly know whose responsibility it is to.get people from the, scene to the hospital, It depends on the type of disaster. withdrawing financial support,: shelves sometime in the 1930's. from the EMO' Programs: * An earthquake never occurred in He said the program which was Seaforth, but it came pretty close, he remembers. • No Need "You can always see where something could happen. .Honestly, I don't see the need for it. We have had it so seldom here," Mr, Sills said.. - He said he believes there is enough community spirit and communication in the teevn to rise to the occasion. He said there is sufficient organization to see that any-disaster would be taken care of, and foresaw a greater problem with an overload of authorities, with the resulting attitude, "that's not our problerni" ' He said he felt the head of council and councillors themselves should be at all times ready to respond. How the community responds, Often depends on the first individual to be contacted, whether fire or police chief, the hospital, moor or councillors. Nothing can s3e done about how this individual reacts, because its Part of the human psychology. Some people won't accept responsibility at all, Mr. Sills 'said. Nearly everyone approached- said the person with ultimate authority would depend on the type of disaster, If it was a fire, er as 12 or more , hort period of..., number that strains e hospital. ckpiled The . federal . government through die Emergency Health Service stockpiled medical supplies .and equipped 200 emergency hoseltaK and Stored , hundreds of other medicale units • for enfergency. ,se.t Seaforth , has an advanced treatment centre-which includes 130rey blankets, and 64 litters store at the hospital and in town, Th se . units were. ..probably composed by military personnel,. Mr. I'Vrackenzie said, beCause the tlurepspsliinegssin ,elude things like shell He said the hospital has' an adequate supply of equipment on Mind anyway and can get supplies from Clinton or a deighboritig in Scotland a dummy disaster is held every six months at the county Training Hospital says disaster exercise helps planning 4 V y I • 49 •