Responders Gather in Okla. to Discuss Tornadoes

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Nov. 05--Devastating tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., and Tuscaloosa, Ala., will be among the topics discussed next week in Oklahoma City at a gathering of emergency responders from around the country.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department is hosting a four-day conference to bring together officials involved in urban search and rescue operations. It's the latest in a series of semiannual meetings over the past decade designed to get leaders in search and rescue involved in dissecting major operations and sharing ideas, fire Battalion Chief Richard Kelley said.

About 80 officials are expected to attend the conference Monday through Thursday, Kelley said.

Presenters will include officials who helped lead task forces in the aftermath of the May 22 tornado in Joplin, which killed more than 150 people, and the April 27 tornado in Tuscaloosa, which killed more than 60 people.

Comparing strategies, discussing operation successes and setbacks, and critiquing performances can save lives, Kelley said.

"You can get better from lessons learned," he said. "It gives us an opportunity to network and see what works."

Conference attendees also will tour the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

Kelley is part of a task force combining firefighters, police officers, engineers and physicians from the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas that can respond to disasters around the region. Other participants are from similar organizations, which model themselves on Federal Emergency Management Agency task forces.

Other recent conferences have been held in Reno, Nev., Chicago and Baltimore.