I certainly applaud the efforts of our fire and rescue person, and all of those people who were out night and day trying to deal with issues involved in keeping roads open. Given the resources and structure in place, they performed heroically. Those people on the front line are not the decision-makers when it comes to policies for handling emergencies. That honor ultimatel falls squarely upon the shoulders of the Mayor, Town Council, and Town Manager.
Having worked in emergency services, I know full well that in times of emergencies, such as this recent snowfall, the goal cannot be to keep each and every street open. The goal must be to keep main streets open and to keep access by emergency vehicles to every home possible. Sometimes, that will mean that emergency personnel have to walk up to a house, through the ice and snow, to get to where their patient is located. Sometimes, it means that police officers will need to leave their vehicle and walk to the scene. Sorry, but that is just the way it works.
What all of that does mean, however, is that responses by those emergency services personal must be of sufficient 'manpower' to accomplish the task. It really does not do much good to have rescue respond to a home without enough personnel to get the patient out of the house and to the ambulance (again having to walk through all of the snow and ice, this time taking a stretcher along as well).
Also, if those people with significant medical problems, who could get to the hospital by private vehicle are unable to do so because several feet of ice/snow have been pushed up around their vehicles due to snow removal efforts. For someone requiring dialysis, home oxygen, heart problems (especially pacemakers), alzheimer's, awaiting transplants, etc., this simple issue could mean the difference between life and death. For each one of these people who's vehicle is blocked in, there is the potential to have to rely on emergency transport. That reduces the number of vehicles and personnel available to respond to other emergencies, increases response times, and, in general creates unnecessary demands on our rescue services/personnel. Then there are those for whom delivery to their home of foods and medications are essential to life.
Emergencies are called emergencies because they are unusual events. They are not routine events or 'business as usual'. As such, they require careful planning. There must be a coordinated effort between those cleaning streets and those providing emergency services or in situation where being able to obtain their own transport is crucial.
This is why emergency plans must be carefully worked out to include a variety of possibilities. Snow, ice storms, flooding, vehicle accidents, hazardous chemical spills, aircraft accidents, and other such unusual events, may result in similar effects but require very different responses.
Both of the scenario's I described earlier as to not having sufficient resources or access to homes for emergency transfer by ambulance and of people who needed to have their vehicles ready to move at any given moment arose during this ice storm.
No matter what planning and preparation has been done, there should certainly be a 're-wind' critique of how the emergency situation was handled. This process should include identify issues/problems that arose and working to find out ways to deal with such situations more effectively in the future. I wonder what emergency plans the town has and how often the agencies involved do a cooperative review of the situation. I'm sure that each department has its own review, but the primary issue needs to be on how effectively these departments work together in such times. Do these agencies have the equipment they need (not necessarily want) in order to provide the best possible coverage for citizens.
Some important questions: Who is in charge during such emergency situations? Is it the Police Chief, the Fire Chief, the Rescue Chief, the Town Manager? Who is responsible for 'post-event' critiquing that identifies areas where improvement can be made and try to come up with a plant to do so? How often are emergency plans re-evaluated. With the tremendous growth that has occurred here in Christiansburg, plans devised for 5 or 10 years ago are no longer effective. What steps are in place to make sure that those people with medical problems have the access that they need?
These people cannot know of every single problem that occurred. If you were in a situation where you were worried that you could not get your medicine, or that you could not get your vehicle out in an emergency, or you were concerned that the rescue units couldn't reach you, contact the town or write your town council members and let them hear about your concerns. Nothing can be addressed without there first being a recognition that a problem exists.