Over the past
three weeks I spent my time with law enforcement. The vehicle inspection project I was working on is almost
completed, so I helped out with taking an inventory of all the equipment in the
fire cache. This is very important
since there is a large amount of tools, clothing and other items in the
building. Accounting for all
available equipment is crucial so that more can be ordered if necessary, and
all personnel deployed to a fire have all the proper gear. As for the other days with law
enforcement, I patrolled the park with several rangers, working different
shifts. I rode along with one
ranger and we had an intense rainstorm come through the park, with trees were
falling down all over the roads.
We found one tree blocking the main road, Scenic Drive, near parking lot
C and were going to wait there for the duration of the storm. Eventually, however, we drove along
Scenic Drive past parking D, but once we neared parking lot E, we found a
vehicle with its windshield smashed in, and occupied by two people trapped inside. At this point the ranger had to clear
the tree down by parking lot C so a fire and rescue squad could drive up to
extract the occupants. He called
assistance from Prince William County Police to help with the tree, which was
huge, very thick and had completely blanketed the road. He placed me in charge of managing the
radio to our dispatch and the county police dispatch. This was a great learning experience for me, since you never
know when a critical incident such as this will occur, and you have to be ready
immediately to take charge and manage resources arriving on-scene and provide
essential updates about the scene, on anything from location to injuries of the
vehicle occupants. Once the tree
was mostly cleared we raced up Scenic Drive toward the accident when another
tree had fallen blocking the road and access to the scene. Once that was clear we sped up to
assist the people trapped in the car, along with the county police and rescue
squad. Thankfully there were no
significant injuries to either person, and it was truly amazing it ended up
that way, considering the damage their car received. Over the next few hours the scene was cleared and my night
was over, but it was a good opportunity to learn. No doubt it was a fast paced shift, but it certainly goes to
show this is what can happen at any given time when working as a law
enforcement ranger.
Jess,
Subhi, and I also were tasked with facilitating a park All-Employee
Meeting. We were put in charge of
planning and developing the agenda for the event, as well as coordinating with
all the various park teams on what foods and drinks to bring for the lunch
afterwards. I had an opportunity
to do this last summer, and I was happy that we were able to do it this year as
well. The three of us put together
a presentation on the Incident Command System (ICS), explaining a brief history
of it, along with its key components and terms, while describing how it will
apply for an event held here at the park this month. This past Saturday the three of us drove with Dave Ballam up
to assist with the Antietam Salute.
We helped with parking for the event, and got to catch up and work with
one of our fellow ProRangers Jay Copper.
Overall, it was a very eventful few weeks, and I hope to learn and
experience even more over the course of July.
All Employee Meeting
Working a parking detail on Mumma Farm at Antietam
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