HomeNewsArticle Display

In case of emergency

  • Published
  • By Brandice Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., --  "What-if" scenarios are often theoretical and abstract, but should they occur, Tinker's emergency management units are prepared.

After day shifters have gone home, emergency management units stay on base. If one or a dozen emergency-related calls or situations arise, they're there.

"This is a 24-hour base, it's going all the time," said Chief Bradley Vance, one of Tinker Fire Department's station chiefs, "and so the probability that something will happen at night, is just like during the day."

During the night, the chief said the station's atmosphere is much like a family at home. After dinner, up to 15 firefighters hang out, watch television, sleep, work out, and exercise, as they wait.

Other units, such as gate guards, the 552nd Air Control Wing Command Post -- which is the servicing command post for most Tinker units -- and 72nd Security Forces Squadron, field phone calls and patrol their areas to prevent hostile occurrences and unauthorized entries, said Daniel Olsen, an armed security guard with TW & Company, which is based in Maryland.

"There really is no typical night and we have to make split-second decisions," said Staff Sgt. Nathan Harter, 72nd SFS Force Protection Operations Center control-man. "If there's an incident unfolding on the radio, we have to make command and control decisions on the spot with no time to really think about it at all."

911 Dispatcher John Adkerson at Tinker's Emergency Communication Center said, depending on the night, it can be a stressful work environment. But, for the most part, despite a few medical-related phone calls, he said his evenings are routine.

"We're all trained in being able to give instructions over the phone and can walk you through (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), or dispatch the fire department or ambulance, which is contracted through Midwest City," Mr. Adkerson said.

If something serious does occur, the command post, the fire department and security forces are ready.

"We have to get the right information to the command -- commander, first sergeants -- as fast as possible and they make the judgment calls," said Senior Airman Toni Somerville, 552nd ACW senior command post controller. "It's not always cake. It's about the right information and a lot of people don't understand what we do."