Six participants responded to five pre-exercise questions that were distributed prior to the full-scale exercise with a purpose of providing the exercise administrators with several perceived enablers and barriers or concerns to the implementation of cross- disciplinary teams. The responses aided in the identification of significant objectives for the full-scale exercise and areas of concern to which the evaluators could pay closer attention during the actual exercise. Using data from the five pre-exercise responses, themes were developed that identified enablers and barriers for the use of the cross- disciplinary team concept and the actual upcoming exercise. The responses were placed in an Excel spreadsheet with each respondent having correlating responses to the five pre-exercise questions. Analysis of the raw qualitative data involved sorting and integrating to create patterns and themes from the responses provided. These themes are
presented for each of the five pre-exercise questions. The pre-exercise themes aided in the development of the full-scale exercise questionnaire.
1. What problems or issues do you expect from this ‘team concept” of police and fire working together?
Responses centered on coordination of armed responders, the communication and implementation of unified command, and the ambiguity regarding responsibility and authority for actions. Four of the six responses provided reference to potential problems associated with communication among the responders from police and fire and rescue, especially with regard to the establishment of joint unified command. Without adequate communication among the disciplines and the establishment of unified command, potential problems can arise regarding the coordination of armed responders, unknown areas of responsibility among the responders, and the establishment of unified command that provides clear direction and representation of all disciplines. Responses indicated a need for a coordinated response that is based upon pre-established policies, procedures and action plans. It was also noted by one respondent that the cross-disciplinary team concept may not be effective and may create unnecessary risk to the responders and agency staff.
2. Do you think that the cross-functional team or “Rescue Task Force” concept as it is sometimes called is needed to accomplish the mission of police, fire and building security’s missions in an active shooter
environment? If not needed, why not?
Four out of six respondents indicated “yes” to this question with two respondents indicating “no” or a neutral response. Responses indicated a concern for a lack of practical exercises and training regarding the use of cross-disciplinary teams which would lead to communication disparity among the responding agencies and disciplines. While the cross-disciplinary response that includes police and armed security officers working together would increase the number of armed responders in an active shooter environment, the response between police and agency security needs to be coordinated. One response indicated that police (law enforcement) need to secure the active shooter scene prior to rescue efforts being deployed by fire and rescue personnel.
3. What are potential barriers to the success of this cross-functional team concept?
As with the implementation of any new procedure, it is important to identify potential barriers early to try and remediate them prior to implementation. In this case, identifying potential barriers prior to the actual exercise would aid in the establishment of objectives for the full-scale exercise. Two of the six respondents indicated no potential barriers to the cross-disciplinary team concept, while two others identified communication as a barrier to include the identification of “who is in charge” of the team and how they would communicate among themselves, as well as the lack of command presence were noted. Other potential barriers included a lack of combined training and familiarity with the other members of the cross-disciplinary team which could lead to distrust and problems agreeing to a unified plan of action. The lack of clear roles and authority of the specific cross-disciplinary team members was identified as a barrier which could potentially lead to members of the team having varying agenda’s and not following direction or established policies. The roles of the members must include the identification of the agency staff, security officers and public safety responders to avoid any miss-interpretation of the varying roles and responsibilities.
4. What type of training, equipment or resources would you need to make the cross-functional team concept a success?
Providing the cross-disciplinary team members with the proper training, equipment and resources is paramount for an effective response. Two of the six respondents indicated the need for ICS and unified command training and the commitment to utilize these on actual emergency incidents. Other respondents indicated the need for additional training and familiarity with the agencies buildings and response procedures, adequate protective gear, the need for joint communications, an effective memorandum of understanding clearly outlining the roles and responsibilities between the agency and public safety responders, and the need for compatible policies and procedures between responders.
5. Do you think we in Fairfax County are prepared today to handle an “active shooter” incident such as Columbine or Mumbai, India? Please elaborate if you can.
Two of the six respondents indicated “no,” one as “unsure,” and the remaining three respondents as either as “ready as we can be” or “it depends” with one providing his concerns. Some responses felt that these types of incidents can never be handled because the “fire power” of the persons doing harm will exceed local law enforcement while others provided no definitive response. Some of the major concerns centered on problems with communication capability and span of control due to the influx of responders to the scene which will create accountability problems for command. The need for collaboration between the agency staff and public safety responders was listed, which relates back to the identification and awareness of the various roles and responsibilities of the various agencies responding to the incident.