FEMA holds "Mass Fatality Workshop" in small MT town today (OT?)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Passing through the tiny Montana town of Libby, I saw the following in the Chamber of Commerce newsletter for the month of November:

"For Your Information -- There is going to be a Mass Fatality Workshop November 2-4, 1999 at the Ponderosa Room. FEMA is sponsoring this workshop which will be attended by 78 people from Montana and Idaho. Let's all show these folks some Libby hospitality! For more info -- contact Charlie Comer."

Anyone know what this three-day workshop is about? Are similar workshops being held in other small towns? (Libby has a population of less than 10,000.)

I guess they did not give the location of the Ponderosa Room because everyone in town would know where it is. Charlie Comer is the local emergency management coordinator.

Any info would be appreciated. I'm posting from a computer that is not my own because of privacy concerns, and will not likely post replies later on this thread.

Jordan Heath

PS -- I am not a troll. Those who doubt the veracity of this post may call the Libby Chamber at 406-293-4167 or e-mail libbyacc@libby.org. The local newpaper is at www.libby.org/WesternNews/ and someone may want to encourage them to check this out.

-- Jordan Heath (jordan@here.somewhere), November 04, 1999

Answers

There was a Emergency Workshop due to Weapons of Mass Distruction in a hospital in the DFW area yesterday.

Sponsored by Fema, FBI, etc...

-- STFrancis (STFrancis@heaven.com), November 04, 1999.


Mass Fatalities training is a very common course taught by FEMA.

Friend of mine who is a big shot in the hazmat operations here, went to one a few years ago. Its normally taught in an central area which allows people from many regions to meet up, so where it is taught is not indicative of that location having a problem.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 04, 1999.


From personal experience, I can vouch for the good hospitality of Libby, Mont. (laughter)

-- Ken Decker (kcdecker@worldnet.att.net), November 04, 1999.

There is a lot of opposition in Montana and Wyoming to the proposed storing of nuclear waste material in E. Idaho. Could it be related to that?

-- chairborne commando (what-me-worry@armgeddon.com), November 04, 1999.

For the correct answer see: "...common FEMA course..."

As a member of the ICS team of a Montana Search and Rescue team, I was scheduled to go along with two other SAR members and a sargent from the Sheriff's Office.

The workshop was cancelled because the instructors were called to the Air Egypt crash, a real-life example of a mass fatality incident.

-- Joe (paraflyr@cybernet1.com), November 05, 1999.



I have it on the highest authority that, during Catholic religious ceremonies, many people spontaneously perish, hence the workshop.

-- Must be (sat@n.ic), November 05, 1999.

OTHER entities teach "Mass Casualty" courses, FEMA teaches Mass Fatality courses because by the time FEMA rightfully is notified, and arives on scene, there aren't any casualties anymore who aren't fatalities. There is a very special skill set required when an agency or entity is dealing with a mass fatality incident, which includes education in the right way to set up a morgue, what to preserve for the forensic teams, and how to deal with CIS(M/D).

Fortunately (or not) these things need to be taught, as they are NOT all intuitive. For which I suspect we should be thankful, as if they were intuitive, we would have WAY too much experience in them.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), November 05, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ