So are we waiting for scenes to be secured or not?

[v85 212]

http://www.emsworld.com/news/10932127/reports-cite-communications-failure-in-colo-shootings

It seems like there are always mixed messages. Fire/EMS are supposed to wait for scenes to be secured, until a major incident happens.....

[PEMO3 523]

The article is an interesting read but clearly raises question about the lack of a unified command, interoperability of communications and the assumption that units should have disregarded the "stage away" order and ran blindly into the scene regardless of the initial intell. Personnel are trained to be mindful of a safe scene, secondary devices and scenes set to draw first responders into the "line of fire". Recently we have seen to many of these later incidents. PD could have transports out to EMS and not the ER. EMS is not trained to enter an unsecured scene and any EMS IC that orders his personnel in without a confirmation that the scene secure should not be an IC. Remember, you are of no help if you become a victim and require resources yourself.

Edited May 3, 2013 by PEMO3

[v85 212]

From my reading of it, it seems like the confusion came when the police were asking for EMS for at least 7 minutes.

The police probably just kept saying "send EMS", which dispatch did, to the staging area; when what the police actually meant was "scene secure, send EMS in". And this isn't the only time that has happened. I have heard a few times on the radio where an officer asks for EMS, then is shocked when he is told they are staging

How a scene like that could be declared secure so soon, is another issue