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Devices show off local readiness
By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer
Then, like kids in a giant show-and-tell, they proudly pointed to equipment that would save lives if those scenarios ever unfolded. -- Anthrax-laced letters in a downtown office? Tampa General Hospital's decontamination tent even includes men's and women's changing areas. -- Deadly chemicals unleashed on New Port Richey? Pasco County Fire Rescue is prepared with "Level A Fully Encapsulated Suits." -- A media onslaught after a region-wide terrorist attack? Television reporters can use the digital editing suite in the Clearwater Police Mobile Command Center. Call it a disaster expo, or a worst-case scenario open house. Officials from the Tampa Bay Regional Domestic Security Task Force just want to be called prepared. "If we have all this and we never have to use it, it's been a deterrent," said Dennis LeMonde, Hillsborough County's Emergency Management director. "It's been worth every penny." Wednesday's event allowed police, firefighters and emergency workers from Polk to Pinellas, from Hardee to Hillsborough, to compare plans for dealing with terrorism and natural disasters. It also allowed officials to peek at some really cool toys. "It is fun," admitted Paul Ford, director of safety and security at Tampa General Hospital, as he demonstrated how to walk through the newest, state-of-the-art decontamination tent. It was bright yellow and smelled of new plastic. Walking through the curtains of the changing pod, shower area and gown distribution chamber felt like exploring a carnival fun house. Like many of the other gadgets and gizmos at the expo, TGH's newest decontamination tent has never been used for a real disaster. "We've been practicing with it, though," Ford said. Agencies lined the parking lot with their mobile command units, portable radiation kits and, in one instance, a former army tank that was recently used by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to wrench burglar bars from a home. The expo yielded odd, yet important, details of life in a post-9/11 world. For example, an employee from the state Department of Health spent several minutes talking to elderly volunteers from the Sun City Center Community Emergency Response Team about smallpox vaccines. Nearby, the Tampa Bomb Squad demonstrated its two bomb robots. And who knew that Zephyrhills Fire was prepared for a chemical attack? Some of the tools cost hundreds and thousands of dollars. But like Citrus County's Mobile Command Unit, they were bought with grants and drug forfeiture money. At a cost of $700,000, the Clearwater Police Mobile Command Center (MCC, for short) is larger than some people's homes. It is 41 feet long and nearly 10 feet wide. It houses six televisions, two 20,000-watt generators and a digital editing suite that would make any electronics geek drool. Not to mention the hot and cold water, the two bunks, full kitchen, toilet and shower, which can be used if officers or commanders have to spend the night at a disaster scene. The MCC has been used once, for an overturned gas tanker on U.S. 19. But Clearwater police Chief Sid Klein says the center can be used for everything from a training tool to a mobile newsroom. "When you're dealing with weapons of mass destruction, it's important to receive or transmit images," he said, pointing to the satellite uplink tower. Still, some of the agencies sent decidedly low-tech tools. Mercedes, an 80-pound search and rescue dog from Polk County, strutted around the vans, the robots and the hazmat suits. His favorite toy, amid all the gadgets: an empty Pepsi bottle. -- Tamara Lush can be reached at (813)226-3373 or lush@sptimes.com.
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