Saturday, April 27, 2019

Here I Am; Send Me

Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, “Get the hell out of my way, I’ve got things to do.” Author Unknown



I'm sure that smoke from the conflagration on I-70 was visible to the first responders from nearly the moment they were dispatched. I'm sure the terror in the voices of the witnesses and victims was clearly evident in every call received in Jeffcom. I'm sure that the first units on scene reported they had arrived at a nightmare marring a perfect spring afternoon. Unknown number of cars, unknown number of victims.

What unfolded next is a textbook example of everything that is good about the emergency response system that has evolved in our state. Dispatch professionals sorted through the information pouring in, triaged it to make it manageable, and communicated it to the responding officers. The initial units made split-second decisions about victims, injuries, rescues as the flames shot hundreds of feet into the air. Officers from surrounding jurisdictions, many likely self-dispatching because they share a common comm center, arrived with the ages-old service professional question - "How can I help?"

With hundreds of resources arriving from multiple police and fire agencies, as well as CDOT, someone (or a couple of someones) takes charge because that's what they've been trained to do. They hear the commotion on the radio. They can feel the heat of the flames on their faces. They are breathing air tainted by burning plastic, metal, asphalt and, yes, people. They hear the sounds of combustion, the muffled explosions. They know what is at stake.

There are things to do.

By all accounts, everyone involved displayed courage, competence and professionalism - Police, Fire, CDOT, Comm Center. From the initial calls, the first on-scene's lifesaving efforts, the crash investigation figuring out a massive puzzle and methodically building a case (UPDATE: Including the criminalist who responded to collect evidence and take photos, who donned firefighter boots to make their way through the wreckage - home well into Friday), the PIO who patiently explained a dynamic, evolving situation well into the wee hours to a press corps (representing the public) needing updated information, to CDOT's command structure... The fire fighters wading into the flames, risking (and in this case sustaining) injury in a thousand different ways to ensure that the victims had every opportunity at life. Hundreds of methodically-trained, expensively equipped, experienced pros, doing the job like it's meant to be done.

The loss of life is tragic. Ours is a profession that deals with the very human emotion of grief, both of the family members left behind, as well as our own. We want to save every victim.

On May 1st it will be 40 years since I was first sworn in as a police officer. I can say this, without blinking. We are - the First Responder System in Colorado - exceptionally well prepared to serve the citizens of this state. The men and women who have stepped up, who have accepted the challenges of a career in emergency services, who have answered the question "Whom shall I send?" with:

"Here I am, send me."

I admire every one who responded. 

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