AUSTIN, Texas — As Austinites reflect back on the one year anniversary of the 2021 winter storm, so did the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) as they hit the ground running in preparation for this month's freeze.
"Everything just happened a little bit quicker, I think, because everything was fresh on our minds," said captain Darren Noak, deputy public information officer with ATCEMS.
Noak said a lot of planning was involved going into 2022, including working with the City to make sure sanding plans were in check and examining the generators at all of their stations.
"We brought back our winter boxes. We issued those to all of our stations," said Noak. "They contain items such as yak tracks, a slip-on rubber and metal gripping device that you can slide on to the bottom of your shoes. It helps trekking through the ice and and snow a little bit more easier."
ATCEMS also examined and looked at tire chain options. As a result of last year, ATCEMS officials activated their department operations center earlier and brought all units and vehicles, even administrative vehicles, in for tire changes.
Another aspect that changed this year: the incident report. During the 2021 winter storm, there were 187 environmental exposures, 115 crashes and 86 carbon monoxide exposures.
In February of 2022, all incident report numbers were down drastically. In total, there were 34 environmental exposures, 34 crashes and one carbon monoxide exposure.
Noak said the biggest difference between 2021 and 2022 was the duration and severity.
"Because last year's storm was still fresh on everyone's mind, we were a little bit more proactive," said Noak. "We were speeding up our department operations center, watching the weather a little bit more closely, bringing crews in or offering those crews the ability to come in earlier, pre-positioning food and water for our crews."
Emergency Medical Services officials brought in additional staff in administrative positions that were staffing for their four vehicles. Noak told KVUE a lot of this happened in 2021, but it happened later on as the duration of the storm and the severity of the storm lasted longer than initially thought. In 2022, everything was on a much more proactive basis.
"We always say planning for next year's event starts the day after this year's event stops. So it's the same thing," Noak said. "It's always a matter of preparation. It's a matter of looking back retrospectively and seeing what worked and what didn't, and making improvements and being ready for it again."
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