VolunteerNow has the article http://www.capvolunteernow.com/news.cfm/mich_unit_presents_aircraft_fire_rescue_session_for_firefighters?show=news&newsID=6289 about a CAP squadron giving a class to a local volunteer fire department on response to small airplane crashes.
Now, it wasn't the average CAP member giving this presentation, but one with some background in the area:
QuoteReed, a CAP pilot and former volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician, worked with Kent Career Technical Center instructor Dennis Stine in presenting a general review of aircraft construction, materials, engines, fuel and electrical systems, as well as potential accident scene and victim injury scenarios. The session also included an overview of current technology and potential hazards at a crash scene.
In the past I have supported the idea of CAP getting out and teaching basic ground SAR to VFDs and other similar groups both as a way to increase the community's capability to respond as well as building up CAP name recognition and respect among agencies that may call upon us for help in real emergencies in the future.
This seems like another area where CAP could follow a similar pattern. Perhaps if someone came up with a good standardized presentation, that would be strongly peer reviewed by those with extensive background on the fire/rescue side of such ops, for CAP members to give to such groups, it could be of great help.
It wouldn't need to go into great deal about the extrication side of things, but focus more on the hazards that your local vollie wouldn't know about.
And if you expanded these classes to include not only the local VFDs, but sheriffs and town police you could greatly increase your potential impact.
These could be done in every town in the state with an airport, most of which probably don't have a CAP unit, and greatly increase CAP's exposure to people with mission-activation ability to us that normally wouldn't know anything about CAP.
Quote from: RiverAux on November 14, 2009, 06:11:57 PM
VolunteerNow has the article http://www.capvolunteernow.com/news.cfm/mich_unit_presents_aircraft_fire_rescue_session_for_firefighters?show=news&newsID=6289 about a CAP squadron giving a class to a local volunteer fire department on response to small airplane crashes.
In the past I have supported the idea of CAP getting out and teaching basic ground SAR to VFDs and other similar groups both as a way to increase the community's capability to respond as well as building up CAP name recognition and respect among agencies that may call upon us for help in real emergencies in the future.
This seems like another area where CAP could follow a similar pattern. Perhaps if someone came up with a good standardized presentation, that would be strongly peer reviewed by those with extensive background on the fire/rescue side of such ops, for CAP members to give to such groups, it could be of great help.
I think a general briefing (without any specific commitment) would be a great idea. Basically covering how our response system works. Some of the information would vary in specific wings, depending upon support agreements with the state government etc. One of my biggest concerns is how a CAP aircraft can communicate with responding public safety ground forces to aircraft crashes, so perhaps a simple handout with our comm out procedures might be included IF our aircraft radios aren't programmed with the appropriate public safety radio system frequencies.
RM
From what I can tell this went well beyond talking about how CAP works in these events to offering advice on what the other agencies should worry about when responding since CAP is only involved in the response to a small number of aircraft crashes.