By Jay F. Marks
The Oklahoman
Copyright 2007 The Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — State officials showed off a sampling of equipment Tuesday that makes up Oklahoma’s Regional Response System.
More than $20 million in federal grant money has been invested in the system to prepare local authorities for any potential disaster, said Kerry Pettingill, director of the state Office of Homeland Security.
More than 60 emergency response units are being distributed throughout the state so they will be there when needed, he said. Many are already in place, equipped with tools to contain chemical spills, extricate someone from a wrecked car or search for survivors after a building collapse.
A $1.18 million mobile command center, unveiled Tuesday, will allow authorities to communicate with any other agency in the state.
Eight other examples of the regional system were on display at State Fair Park, ranging from an Urban Search and Rescue Unit packed with air bags, extrication tools and search cameras to a Mass Decontamination Unit capable of processing as many as 200 people an hour.
Albert Ashwood, director of the state Office of Emergency Management, said the equipment makes it easier for the state’s first responders to do their jobs and keep their communities safe.
Earlier Tuesday, more than 100 firefighters and trainees from Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas gathered at the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism to learn about their roles in homeland security.
John Norman, chief of special operations for the New York Fire Department, said firefighters can expose terrorist plots if they pay attention.
He said that laboratory equipment and unusual chemicals at the scene of a fire or explosion could be a sign that someone is trying to manufacture a bomb.
“It’s something you wouldn’t find in most locations,” he said.
Norman’s talk, which focused on how firefighters respond to bombs and explosions, included graphic photographs of terror attacks dating to the 1920s.
He said it is important for firefighters to rely on their experience if such an attack occurs.
“Do what you were trained to do because people’s lives will depend on you,” Norman said.