Survivors Usually Act as ‘First Responders,’ Meeting Told

UMass Lowell acting Police Chief Allan Roscoe addresses a recent summit meeting of the EPA’s Office of Homeland Security.

email this story

When a catastrophic event occurs, it is usually the survivors -- not emergency personnel -- who are the first to help those affected.

UMass Lowell acting Police Chief Allan Roscoe made this observation in opening remarks to participants in a recent two-day summit meeting of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Homeland Security. Roscoe was representing Chancellor Marty Meehan at the meeting held in the University’s Wannalancit Mill facility.

“The first responders to many disasters or catastrophic events are not the police or other emergency personnel but members of the public,” he said. “It is the survivor of an event that usually takes the first step to assist others. We have an obligation to ensure that we have an educated public in this respect. And, further, I believe it is imperative that we form partnerships with institutions of higher learning to provide not only disaster response education but also training of responders.”

The meeting, held in mid-May, brought together New England’s key federal and state environmental and public health leaders to discuss regional resources, assets and protocols for use in a chemical agent attack. The goal of the summit was to promote a regionalized planning approach highlighting best practices and identifying gaps in New England’s planning effort.

Cross-agency cooperation regarding preparation for catastrophic events has sometimes been lacking, Roscoe said.

“It should be realized across the spectrum,” he said, “that cooperation and coordination among stakeholders is of paramount importance when either preparing for or preventing catastrophic events.”

David Coffey, the New England Consortium’s Special Projects, discussed the importance of proper training for responders.

“We strongly believe that dynamic hands-on/interactive training that exceeds national standards will assist all of us in meeting any hazardous situations,” Coffey said.

The Consortium has been a National Institute of Environmental Health Science awardee for the past 20 years and has trained more than 18,000 workers and emergency responders in hazardous waste site safety and hazardous material emergency response.