City better prepared for disaster 10 years later

• From left, Police Chief Marty Jensen, Fire Chief Jim Frye, and EMS Chief Eric Christensen

From left, Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen, Hudson Fire Chief Jim Frye, and St. Chief EMS Chief Eric Christensen.

Talk about it

The chiefs of Hudson’s three public safety agencies — the police department, fire department and ambulance service — agree that they are better prepared to deal with a disaster than they were 10 years ago.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in which 2,819 people died, the federal government led a national effort to improve the response to any future disasters like it.

The result is better coordination between public safety agencies at all levels, say St. Croix EMS Chief Eric Christensen, Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen and Hudson Fire Chief Jim Frye.

Federal funding was made available to improve radio equipment and standardized frequencies were established to make sure that emergency responders statewide can communicate with each other.

The new federal Department of Homeland Security developed a system for responding to disasters known as the National Incident Management System (NIMS). And it required that leaders of all federal, state and local public safety agencies undergo training in the system — from the local fire and police chiefs to the heads of federal agencies.

In addition, local communities were required to develop disaster response plans, identifying key resources and the steps to take if they are damaged by an act of nature, accident or an attack.

EMS Chief Christensen is Hudson’s acting emergency management coordinator. Hudson-area municipalities are talking about sharing an emergency management coordinator, but haven’t established the position yet.

Christensen said the city’s emergency response plan is 51 pages in length and refers to separate plans written by departments such as the water and sewer utilities.

While the plan addresses the possibility of a terrorist attack, that isn’t seen as the most likely threat to the city.

Officials believe the odds are greater that Hudson could be hit by a tornado or powerful straight-line winds, or that a train derailment might result in a release of hazardous chemicals.

Explosions, interstate highway shutdowns, pandemics and drinking water contamination are some of the other possibilities addressed in the city’s emergency response plan.

“Anything is possible. We try to plan for the most probable events that could hit us,” Christensen said.

Foreign nationals aren’t the only threat when it comes to terrorism, he added. He said that in his hometown in Indiana, a local individual tried to blow up the county courthouse using a truck loaded with explosives.

Hurricane Katrina that struck New Orleans in 2005 also changed a lot about how public safety agencies respond to disasters, Christensen said.

“That was a whole new set of unforeseen and seen circumstances that hadn’t been dealt with before,” he said. “Lessons were learned. It’s unfortunate, but we do learn a lot of lessons from previous disasters and incorporate that into future responses.”

The National Incident Command System developed in response to 9/11 is now used when multiple local agencies respond to a vehicle accident on Interstate 94.

The city also recently established guidelines for on-scene command of incidents in which multiple public safety departments respond.

While agencies are better prepared for disasters, they're not complacent about the potential threats, Christensen said.

"We want to keep working on developing a better response and plan," he said.

Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen said protection of I-94 bridge over the St. Croix River was a major concern in the days immediately after the 9/11 attacks.

The police department received instructions from the federal government to keep an eye on major infrastructure, and the bridge was seen as a vulnerable asset.

Jensen said police routinely patrolled the bridge during that time, and are still watchful for suspicious activity there.

He’s glad that the police department no longer gets frequent calls about suspicious activity by Middle Eastern men in Lakefront Park.

As a tourist destination, the park and river have long attracted visitors of various ethnic groups, he said, but in the anxious period following the attacks, every Middle Eastern male was regarded with suspicion.

“Now, I can’t remember the last time something like that happened,” he said.

Fire Chief Frye agreed with Christensen and Jensen about the improved communications, incident coordination, planning and training that have followed 9/11.

“It affected the fire service as a whole,” Frye added of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. “Three hundred forty-three of our comrades lost their lives doing what they signed up to do.”

“I think we’re more aware of what can happen,” he said. “We’ve all given some thought about how we would approach something of this nature.”

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