Mutual Aid: It Works

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May 22, 2011 will be a day many of my neighbors and I will not soon forget. That’s when Joplin, Mo. was clobbered by an EF-5 tornado with winds over 200 mph. Having been born, raised and done my police career in southern California — land of earthquakes and wildfires — I had only seen images of tornado destruction on the evening news.

I’d had experience with both of San Diego’s wild fire disasters in 2003 and 2007, and the implementation of our county’s mutual aid system. Although my exposure to the system was limited to being a worker bee following my assignments, I was under-whelmed with its operations. The underlying goals of keeping the community safe and moving forward with restoration efforts were lost in the schoolyard fight among too many out of control egos jockeying to be in charge.

In spite of damage and the loss of power, George Michalopoulos,
owner of Mythos restaurant, called his staff in and served free
meals to workers and citizens.

Joplin’s swirling funnel cloud of doom left a swath of destruction about 6 miles long by almost 1 mile wide. I now have a better understanding of how well mutual aid can work. In less than 48 hours, streets were significantly cleared of debris, enabling emergency crews to conduct search and rescue missions and respond more effectively. Fire, EMS and police agencies from the four states region (Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri) were sending assistance immediately. Even the National Guard got in on the action.

Joplin’s emergency personnel were kept available to handle the calls for service while the allied agencies were predominantly responsible for search and rescue, traffic control and perimeter security. Mutual aid didn’t end there; utility crews, insurance company reps and disaster relief personnel all descended on Joplin, in record time. And by day two, police agencies from hundreds of miles away in other states were responding.

Even some of the rescuers needed rescuing before they could help anyone else.

It went like this: people self-rescued first, then the house next door, the block, and then the neighborhood. Citizens immediately went to neighborhoods, and St. John’s Hospital, which was devastated, and began helping. Some of these people may have just lost everything they owned, but that wasn’t the point. Fire, EMS and cops started rescue efforts and work crews started clearing streets. More people from the community brought in their own heavy equipment and assisted with getting debris out of the way. Keep in mind, this happened at 6:00 p.m. on a Sunday evening.

Search and rescue ramped up as more assistance arrived; teams searched building by building. Every car and building was spray-painted by the team who searched, showing the date and what was found. There were three more searches, each delving deeper into the rubble.

Day four — this canine and his handler are still going at it. This kind of
work is trying, even for the strongest. The emotional drain was tremendous for everyone.

Stand back, you’ve never seen utility crews remove and install
power poles as fast as these guys!

Saving lives, accounting for the missing and dead, shutting off damaged gas and power lines were top priorities. And because criminals being the rats they are, protecting the residents and businesses from the rare-looter was the next priority. Clean up, salvage and rebuilding came last. I’m so proud to live in a community where individual needs and wants took a back seat to the bigger picture — working together to help the community as a whole.

I’m sure there were things that could’ve been done differently, or run smoother; over all, the mutual aid system in place here ran like a top. I hope this event serves as a model to other agencies in their efforts to implement mutual aid.

Mostly? Just respond, don’t wait to be asked.

We’re working on a comprehensive anatomy of this disaster, and the emergency response efforts, to be published in a future edition of American COP Magazine.