Missouri Fire Department Trains Chinese on Disasters

Three fire protection officials from Missouri’s Boone County are sharing their knowledge of disaster management with Chinese officials to help prepare the country, so recently ravaged by earthquake, for the upcoming summer Olympics.

In an article in the Columbia Daily Tribune, Joe Meyer says the three taught a five-day course in Beijing to epidemiologists with the China Centers for Disease Control. The training was intended to help the Chinese agency be better prepared for potential chemical, biological or nuclear incidents during the Olympics.

The training focused on explaining the National Response Framework and Incident Command System. “The point being, we didn’t teach them how to handle anthrax. That’s a different deal,” Fire Chief Steve Paulsell told Meyer. “We taught them how to handle the big event.”

But why this fire district in Missouri? Paulsell told Meyer this fire district was requested for the program after being recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Paulsell also told Meyer that Chinese epidemiologists embraced the teaching, which explained the modular management system emphasizing the unity of command with defined roles and responsibilities.

“What can happen at an incident is everyone shows up and everyone does a little bit of everything,” Paulsell added. “It’s like a toolbox, and there’s a lot of different tools you can pull out depending on the size of the incident or complexity of the incident.”

To read the full article, click here: www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Jun/20080608News002.asp