Dissertation Writers: Effective use of the mutual aid system;
LAFD, along with the Glendale Fire Department and multiple other local agencies, had responded to a previous Metrolink crash in 2005. However, that incident had only 25 immediate patients and 11 fatalities, and was in an urban location much more centrally located to roadways easily accessed by responding resources. Many of the lessons learned from the 2005 Metrolink train crash were applied and incorporated into this incident. These include:
- Immediate implementation of ICS and early establishment of a unified command;
- Early establishment of communications to permit hospital notification and polling about bed availability;
- Rapid response of specialized urban search and rescue teams;
- Use of helicopters for the transport of critical patients;
- Effective use of the mutual aid system;
- Transport of the most critically injured (“immediate”) patients to trauma centers rather than the closest hospitals;
- Close coordination with the L.A. County Medical Alert Center (MAC) to help scene managers determine bed availability, keep hospitals informed about the scope of the incident and the patients they would be receiving, and also coordinate patient tracking from input by hospitals;
- Effective use of air ambulances to send critical patients to more distant trauma centers;
