Why are there so many chiefs and so few Indians?
Just last month a tragedy took place in the southern part of Bonner County.
An innocent life was taken by a person who was driving while impaired by alcohol. Within minutes of the accident, first responders (police, fire, paramedics) from Bonner and Kootenai counties were on scene.
That’s the good news; the bad news is, things could have gone more efficiently at the scene.
In the world of local government where a variety of services are provided there are few more vital, expensive or political in nature than those that deal with public safety. This triad of services is ever changing — technologically, socially and morally complex and often deals with life-threatening situations.
After reviewing time lines on official documents and talking with witnesses at the scene there is no doubt in my mind, that at this particular incident, there was a breakdown in communications between the vast array of first responders.
By one account of a responder at the incident, there were at least eight different jurisdictions on scene and things weren’t real organized.
By the statements of some command staff and elected officials there could have been more “command presence” at the scene.
How does this happen? Could it be that there is no one central authority in Bonner County for EMS/fire response? Could the political complexity of 12 different fire district fiefdoms contribute to this confusion?
Bonner County, with a population of about 43,000 people, has 12 fire chiefs, 21 fire stations, 12 fire commissions and maintains nearly 70 pieces of fire equipment (the city of San Francisco, population of 750,000 has 68 pieces of equipment).
For a geographic area that seems to question big government, bureaucracy and duplication of efforts with tax payers money, why do we have so many chiefs and so few Indians? Is this local control gone out of control for the sake of personalities and egos?
According to a local fire district executive, there is not one fire district in Bonner County equipped to fight even the smallest structural fire without a request for mutual aid. In Bonner County, is mutual aid the rule more then the exception? Mutual aid brings more chiefs to the scene. Why not combine resources, centralize command and add more Indians instead of supporting 12 fire chiefs?
Chaos is synonymous with emergency scenes. Coordination, cooperation and communication is paramount. Could we control and limit some of the chaos with a centralized command in Bonner County that leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who has final and unfettered authority at the scene?
When it comes to emergency services there is no place for personalities and egos.
BILL LITSINGER
Sagle