Search and Rescue Operations in California During Flooding » Lessons Learned

The following lessons learned are from the incident commander’s perspective:

1. Recognize the potential natural hazard and pre-plan accordingly.

   Flooding is an eventuality in virtually every populated area in the United States. Budgeting for training and equipment should not be determined by what happened most recently, but rather by what is eventually going to happen.

   Ten years of drought found California agencies unprepared to respond to flood rescues adequately in 1992. Long oriented towards preparing to respond to earthquakes, officials had to respond to criticisms towards their operations during those floods. As a result, many agencies took a more multi-task perspective with their rescue units. In 1995 the state was well-prepared with trained rescuers and equipment. The next flood will find the state even better trained and equipped.

   The result has been that recent floods have still caused substantial property loss, but less loss of life.

   Be Pro-Active, not Reactive.

2. Mitigate the hazard.

   Local planners and officials can diminish flood and river rescue problems by making regulatory decisions - some easy to take, and some hard:

   Public education on the dangers of flooding, starting at grade school level can alter public behavior. Drivers will learn why they must avoid low-water crossings. Residents will understand why they must evacuate when ordered. And children can be taught why they must stay out of flooded rivers and flood channels. “NO Way Out” is one example, a video produced by Los Angeles resident Nancy Rigg, who witnessed her fiance’s death attempting a river rescue. “No Way Out” is presented to school children throughout the Los Angeles area. It was designed to focus the public’s attention on flooding dangers thereby minimizing such events from occurring in 1995.

   In addition, reinforce the message negatively. Drivers moving around barricades should be heavily cited. Refusal to evacuate should be grounds for citation as well. Law enforcement officials and judicial officials should stand by such citations. They cost money, but save lives.

   Local building and community planning can diminish rescue problems and save billions in tax dollars. Flood channel systems in California have been overwhelmed in recent rains. The use of federal tax dollars to repeatedly rebuild homes along flood-prone rivers has generated public criticism.

   Some hard but effective decisions include: control growth in flood prone areas, institute tougher building codes on rise of foundations, and require insurance in order to secure building permits.

3. Identify and secure training resources.

   There are several credible training companies, groups and programs in the United States able to provide river and flood rescue training. Minimum consensus standards on training exist. Such training will not only save lives, but identify potential rescue problems, and preserve rescuer safety.

4. Rescuer safety is the first priority.

   Between early 1983 and September 1995, 37 firefighters and rescuers have drowned, an average of three a year. Many of these drownings were preventable with some knowledge of the forces at work in moving water. Again, many of these deaths were due to a reaction to a problem and a well-intentioned, but misinformed, effort to save a life.

   In river rescues the hard decision for the trained rescuer is to sometimes simply stand and watch, rather than endanger a rescuer. Again this decision is based on training and knowledge.

5. When responding to flood rescue calls, send a full complement of resources immediately.

   Moving water rescue calls require as much skilled rescue power as possible, and the situation may change quickly and radically. Many failed rescues have been the result of sending only a “first-in” unit to evaluate the need for further help. By the time adequate help arrives the victim has washed away.

6. Establish and utilize state and local mutual aid lists, and use them.

   A disaster is a situation that overwhelms local ability to respond. California’s response to the floods of 1995 shows the value in working with neighboring agencies to establish inter-agency rescue task forces. It also showed the value of having state resources available.

7. Emergency managers at the state level should understand river and flood rescue needs, and maintain a state resource list.

   State emergency planners can support tactical operations by maintaining lists of trained river rescue units, boats appropriate to flood rescue, and helicopter units trained in moving water rescue work.

   Sending inappropriately trained resources to a scene may slow the rescue response, as well as possibly endanger rescuers inadequately trained for the environment.

8. The federal government can provide for recovery efflorts, but river and flood rescues will be done by local agencies.

   Even state level resources take time to respond. By the time outside resources arrive, the majority of the rescue work will be over, good or bad.

9. Use the correct equipment for the job.

   Coast Guard approved personal flotation devices, either types III or V, are an absolute minimal need for any rescue personnel who are near the water. Personnel floatation devices should not be allowed to approach the water. Further, river rescue experts generally concur that fire “turn-outs” and bunker boots are potentially dangerous if a firefighter is washed away.

10. Incident commandplanning documents and flip cards need to identify swiftwater and flood assignments.

    Incident Command System (ICS) card systems generally tell incident commanders what to request for various kinds of calls, including earthquakes, tornadoes, wildland fires, etc. These card systems need to include flood and river responses as well.

11. Establish inter-disciplinary and inter-agency task forces.

    In California, local areas in both north and south have gotten past political concerns in order to establish task force plans. The task forces utilize appropriate resources from police, fire, sheriffs, lifeguards, ambulance, dive teams and rescue teams. Incident commanders need to know the capabilities of each of these groups.

12. Flood and river rescue operations in populated areas should be considered at the least, highly contaminated and, at the worst, potential hazardous materials scenes.

    Incident commanders should include decontamination as part of their scene structure. Personnel should consider lifejackets and wetsuits used in polluted flood water as throw away items at the end of operations. All personnel should have Hepatitis inoculations and current tetanus as well. Upper respiratory infections, skin rashes, inflamed eyes, and upper G.I. problems routinely affect rescue personnel involved in in-water rescue operations in urban areas.

13. Don‘t forget "rehab”

    Protracted operations in cold water, cold weather, or rain quickly sap the efficiency of field personnel. Injuries are often the result of exposure and exhaustion - the same way they can be for firefighters exposed to heat and smoke for too long.

14. Make sure there is plenty of water.

    While this sounds redundant, the point is that the combination of cold water and exertion will not only exhaust rescuers, but dehydrate them as well. Drinking water during flood operations can quickly become a concern. Virtually every apparatus should have food and water placed on board during such emergencies.

15. Train and utilize multiple public information offices.

    Work to effectively use local broadcasting resources. Getting the correct information to broadcasters, with accompanying efforts to encourage information distribution while discouraging sensationalism, can aid overwhelmed public information efforts. Local broadcasting, particularly in the Los Angeles and Sacramento areas, diminished incoming calls to emergency operations centers, by advising on road closures, locations to pick up sand bags and sand, emergency shelters, areas with power losses, and other critical information.

16. Keep dispatchers in the information “loop."

    Due to call loads, some dispatch centers around the state reported they were not receiving timely information from managers, to pass on to concerned callers.

17. Use the I.C.S. Avoid micromanagement. Communicate.

    Some counties set up area Emergency Operations Centers to maintain control of calls and assets in the area. Problems then occurred when EOCs were unable to communicate with each other, because of busy radios or lack of dedicated phone lines.

18. Be cautious. Activate emergency operating plans early.

    In Southern California, agencies were activated as soon as abnormal rainfall levels were determined (according to a formula that compares rainfall levels and time elapsed). In some areas of Northern California, the rise in small creeks surprised responders and dispatchers, and efforts to organize were slower. In some mountain counties EOCs were activated, even though no severe problems occurred.