EMERGENCY PERSONNEL ATTEND SEMINAR ON PREPARING FOR EARTHQUAKE IN AREA

When Iben Browning predicted the New Madrid Fault would activate on Dec. 3, 1991, people prepared for the worst.

Perhaps it was the extensive news coverage of the prediction, or maybe just the rise of the fault to the front of people's minds that caused them to prepare earthquake survival kits, practice earthquake drills at home and stock up on potable water and food. Some even left the area for a couple of weeks in early December.

For one reason or another, a veritable frenzy caused by the faulty prediction was very real just as real as the constant threat of Browning's speculation becoming reality.

A few weeks after the prediction proved to be false people began to push the fault to the back of their minds, or out of their minds completely. Survival kits were dismantled, food was eaten and drills were no longer practiced.

All day Wednesday, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, emergency operations coordinators, public works officials, businessmen and law enforcement personnel from throughout the region were treated to a seminar on urban search-and-rescue techniques after a disaster has struck.

"Southeast Missouri is at great risk for catastrophic earthquakes, making it a prime location for the learning and implementation of a search-and-rescue program," said Rick Roman, an emergency response coordinator for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It could happen at any time, so we need to be prepared right now."

Several speakers who have worked in actual disaster situations across the country came to Cape Girardeau to share their experiences, successes and secrets with local emergency personnel.

CUSEC the Central United States Earthquake Consortium predominantly covers the seven states which would be most affected by a major earthquake within the New Madrid Fault Zone. Those sates include Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi.

At Wednesday's seminar, representatives of emergency service agencies in Paducah, Western Kentucky, Northwest Tennessee and from throughout Southeast Missouri were told in frank terms what to expect when the big one strikes.

Chuck Mills, a former fire chief in Fairfax, Va., who now works for the Federal Emergency Management Agency designing a standard plan for urban search-and-rescue disaster management, said the area probably is largely unprepared for disaster to strike.

"FEMA has identified this region as one of the most vulnerable to a major disaster and with the least capability to help yourselves," he said. "A large portion of you folks will probably be victims in one way or another of a major earthquake when it strikes, which will adversely affect the whole system."

That, he said, is why the area must become dependent upon itself and be able to most effectively utilize resources in a future disaster situation.

"We've developed a 911 society," Mills said. "When things get tough and the normal, everyday disaster response system is dead, the population still expects the system to exist.

"People will be scared and confused, some will be injured; but they must develop self-reliance on their ability to take care of themselves," he said. "You all will be waiting for help from the outside and that takes time time when you must help yourselves."

Along those same lines, emergency personnel must be able to quickly evaluate an emergency situation and assess their needs to communicate them to outside sources.

"You need to be able to ask for the appropriate resources to meet your immediate needs," Mills said. "After Hurricane Andrew, Florida got men in red berets toting guns when people had no food or water."

A Cape Girardeau firefighter expressed his views of an impending earthquake by comparing it to a massive grass fire.

"If the earthquake hits, the state and federal guys are going to attack it from the outside, focusing their attention on places like St. Louis and Memphis," he said. "Places like Cape Girardeau and Sikeston are going to be left fending for themselves."

Mills said that was exactly the reason why agreements between departments and contracts were so important.

"Agreements are fine," the firefighter responded. "I might tell my neighbor that if his house is on fire, I'll help him put it out. But if my house is burning right alongside his, you can bet I'm going to put my fire out first and let him fend for himself."

Mills answered: "That kind of a scenario often becomes a reality in disaster situations. So what you need to do then is help yourself spend your energy within whether it's a grass fire or a major earthquake."

The seminar also included information on assessment procedures, safety considerations, rescue extrication operations, medical stabilization and treatment of trapped victims, and a question-and-answer panel.

"We do this to help promote local projects of disaster preparedness and to let emergency personnel know the latest information on techniques and services available to them in a time of need," Roman said. "It also gives us some kind of idea of what is out there, what we can depend upon in emergency situations, and for us to assess their readiness for the worst to happen."

Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Robert L. Ridgeway attended the seminar with more than 35 of his firefighters.

"When and if we have to deal with a disaster with the potential magnitude of the New Madrid Fault, we have to understand what's available and how to deal with it," Ridgeway said. "The fire department will probably emerge as one of the lead agencies in a disaster, and we have to be able to branch out, to spread as the situation grows."