Umatilla County Bus Crash Interstate - 84 Gary A. Woodson, Fire Chief-Paramedic & Matt Benedict, Captain-Paramedic Pendleton Fire & Ambulance Department.
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Umatilla County Bus Crash Interstate - 84 Gary A. Woodson, Fire Chief-Paramedic & Matt Benedict, Captain-Paramedic Pendleton Fire & Ambulance Department DECEMBER 30, 2012 DECEMBER 30, 2012 TIMELINE 10:07 a.m. - 1st call to Umatilla County 911 Tour bus crash on I-84 at Cabbage Hill Milepost 226 Westbound Passengers mostly South Korean Twelve 911 calls received in ~20 minutes by passing motorists and bus passengers – most Korean speaking CTUIR Ambulance dispatched Requested assistance from Pendleton Fire & East Umatilla Rural Health District Request EOC be opened EM notified at 10:40 CTUIR Public Safety Director notified at 10:50 Requests for assistance continued I-84 Closed to traffic • Pendleton Fire & Ambulance Services assumed • • • • • command of incident Unified Command (OSP, PFD) No IMT (most IMT members were responding or on standby) Lt. Gregg Hastings, OSP dispatched to assist with PIO functions Mid-Columbia Bus Company dispatched to assist with transport Morrow County Mobile Command Vehicle rescue Responding agencies NOTIFICATIONS OERS Umatilla County Commissioners City of Pendleton Mayor, City Counsel, City Manager CTUIR Government NTSB Consulates: Korean Canadian U.S. CHALLENGES • Day of the Week (Sunday) • Terrain (~200’ below freeway at a 63% • • • • grade) Number of victims and accountability of victims Range of injuries Temperature - 21-24 degrees Age ranged from 7 to 75 years CHALLENGES 2 buses, stopped in Boise where some passengers traded buses with no change in manifest, which was in Korean. Passengers listed as “John Doe, and 3 others” (no names) Crashed bus was 2nd in line, first bus continued on, where passengers disembarked without being checked off of manifest, so there was no clear number or ID of passengers on either bus. Language barrier. Most were Korean and spoke little or no English. WEATHER CONDITIONS & TERRAIN • Temperature: 21-24 degrees • ~200 feet below freeway • 63% Grade MEDICAL BRANCH • Triage • Treatment • Transportation Passengers in bus were triaged, treated and removed EXTRICATION - DISENTANGLEMENT • Roof Ladders used on driver’s side for access. • Initial access through front of the bus. Initial access for rescue crews TREATMENT • IV Hep Lock started while patients were still on the bus • Pain medications administered • patients received collars & backboards. There were very few walking wounded. ROPE RESCUE Most victims were carried up this incline or hoisted with ropes. There were 3 or 4 walking wounded that were able to make it to the highway prior to EMS arrival. TRANSPORT • 38 transported • 9 fatalities • 38 patients removed from scene in 2 hours 38 minutes • From bus to ambulance – Average of 4 min. 15 sec • Transport to hospital ~20 minutes RESCUE RESCUE EFFORTS 38 patients removed from the scene in 2 hours 38 minutes. From bus to ambulance – average of 4 min. 15 seconds Transport to hospital – 20 minutes. • Technical Rescue teams requested to assist • All TerrainRescue Vehicles requested to transport tools, equipment and victims rescue Multiple Agencies Involved ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL • Arrival at St. Anthony’s Hospital • Patients re-triaged by physician, ER nurse and paramedics • 26 patients treated at St. Anthony’s • Some patients transported to other hospitals LIFEFLIGHT • One helicopter available (from LaGrande) that could land at the scene. • Pendleton aircraft grounded due to weather • Weather checks every 5 minutes • 2 Fixed winged medical aircraft staged at Pendleton Airport • 2 Rotary winged (helicopters) staged at Pendleton Airport • 1 Helicopter at St. Anthony’s LifeFlight staged at SAH for transport to tertiary hospitals • Shelter set up at Pendleton Convention Center • Staffed by Mid-Columbia Region – Portland Red Cross staff members, local volunteers, nurses, doctors and translators. • Shelter moved to Red Lion Inn • Legacy Ford of LaGrande provided transportation to Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver B.C. at no charge Tour bus was transported to a secondary location for investigation PUBLIC INFORMATION Oregon State Police, Lt. Gregg Hastings – Public Information Officer Press Conference held December 31, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. MEDIA Countless News Media inquiries were fielded by Emergency Management, Hospital Communications Director, Oregon State Police PIO, and EM PIO. Most were respectful of the bus passengers, with few exceptions. The incident was the 4th largest news story in the US for 2 days. DISPATCH CENTERS • Umatilla County • Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) • City of Hermiston • City of Milton Freewater • Oregon State Police • Morrow County • Union County • Walla Walla County • Oregon Dept. of Transportation • LifeFlight 10 Total dispatch centers involved in event EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCIES • Umatilla County • Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation • Union County • Morrow County LAW ENFORCEMENT • Oregon State Police Pendleton, Bend, Salem, Portland, LaGrande, Baker City • • • • • • • Umatilla County Sheriff ’s Office Umatilla County Search & Rescue Pendleton Police Dept. CTUIR Union County Sheriff ’s Office Union County Search & Rescue Morrow County Sheriff ’s Office FIRE & AMBULANCE • CTUIR Fire Dept. • Northwest Medstar (Spokane) • Pendleton Fire & Ambulance • East Umatilla Rural Fire • • • • • • • • • Service Pilot Rock Fire District Stanfield Fire Dept. Hermiston Fire & Emergency Services Umatilla Fire & Protection District City of Walla Walla Fire Dept. Walla Walla Fire District 4 LaGrande Fire Dept. Milton-Freewater Ambulance Service Area Health District • • • District (Weston) East Umatilla Rural Health District (Athena) Helix Fire Dept. Union Ambulance Service (Union) LifeFlight 16 Fire and Ambulance agencies responded HOSPITALS • St. Anthony - Pendleton • Providence St. Mary’s -Walla Walla • Walla Walla General - Walla Walla • Grande Ronde - LaGrande • Good Shepherd Medical Center - Hermiston • Harbor View Medical Center – Seattle • Oregon Health Sciences University - Portland • Legacy Emanuel Medical Center – Portland • Kadlec Regional Medical Center – Richland • St. Alphonse Medical Center - Boise ASSISTING AGENCIES • American Red Cross – Pendleton, • Umatilla Electric Co-op – • • • • • • • • • • • • Portland Veterans of Foreign Wars – Pendleton Umatilla County Commissioners Mid-Columbia Bus Company InterMountain Education Services District Legacy Ford – LaGrande Pendleton Convention Center Red Lion Hotel Total of 65 Agencies Involved • • • Hermiston Oregon Health Authority ODOT OERS OEM Royal Canadian Mounted Police – Vancouver B.C. Consulate General of Canada Seattle South Korean Consulate - South Korea South Korean Consulate - Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver B.C. AFTER INCIDENT • Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) • Hotwash/Critique of Event • After Action Report (AAR) • County Wide Mass Casualty Response Plan • Multi-County Mass Casualty Response Plan Lessons LESSONS LEARNED Communications On Scene: On scene was poor due to terrain and unfamiliarity with equipment Yelling back & forth and by runner between top of embankment and bus location Cell phone service unavailable due to terrain Umatilla/Morrow Radio and Data District Administrator Shawn Halsey was acting as S&R member and could have provided assistance had he known there was an issue with Communications Suggestions/Corrections UMRDD – Refresher radio course for all entities Halsey’s roll with UCSO S&R, at incidents such as these will be reevaluated to use his capability in the best interest of incident resolution. LESSONS LEARNED Lessons learned Coordination and Control Accountability difficult due to different accountability systems Safety was a challenge (terrain and location of bus) No clear number of persons on bus Manifest was in Korean Groups of passengers listed as “John Doe, and 3 others” IC needed an assistant to relay info, take notes, etc. Command Post was not readily identifiable Suggestions/Corrections Move to one accountability system for all responders Assign assistant to IC Identify Command Post LESSONS LEARNED Emergency Management Public Information • County PIO unavailable – OSP responded to work with media • Located additional PIO’s to respond to inquiries at ARC Shelter • Suggestions/Corrections Additional PIO’s identified and contact list updated Identify staging area for media to gain information Emergency Manager • EOC was opened. Briefings held by phone with on scene IC, ARC and OSP • Concern for travelers on I-84 in sub-freezing weather for 4 hours • Suggestions/Corrections Scheduled briefings ADDITIONAL LESSONS LEARNED Law Staging area • I-84 westbound was closed for emergency vehicles use • Waiting ambulances were blocking other emergency traffic • Suggestions/Corrections Provide Staging Manager for staging of emergency vehicles Hospitals • Hospitals notified that they would receive patients • St. Mary’s had room for more patients but did not know how to contact IC • No “All Clear” message to hospitals • Suggestions/Corrections Assign Transport Liaison to hospitals Relay “All Clear” to all affected hospitals ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES Individual and Family Assistance Passengers/patients on bus • Language Barrier – local interpreters • offered assistance, one through Facebook • Korean Consulate identified the dead and notified appropriate authorities • Luggage recovery for passengers • Free transportation offered to passengers at no cost QUESTIONS?