PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, fire and police departments say the lessons learned that day continue to shape emergency response, with a greater focus on specialized training, technology, coordination, and first responder safety.<\/p>\n
At the Cherry Hill Fire Department’s Central Command, agencies from across Camden County regularly train together for special operations rescues, including building collapses.<\/p>\n
“New York, Philly, they all had collapse training. Cherry Hill, we didn’t have any of that before 9\/11,” said Lt. Sean Carlin of the Cherry Hill Fire Department.<\/p>\n
Rescue tactics and equipment have evolved significantly since then.<\/p>\n
Teams now use respiratory protection during operations, and specialized tools help stabilize damaged structures.<\/p>\n
“These are aluminum struts. We use this in a variety of ways. We stabilize vehicles,” Carlin said. “But the bread and butter for this is structural collapse.”<\/p>\n
While timber is still used, Carlin said newer equipment allows crews to enter buildings, search for victims, and maintain stability more effectively.<\/p>\n
Technology has also advanced search-and-rescue efforts. Michael LaBarr, a fire captain with the City of Camden, said newer cameras and sensors can help crews locate people trapped beneath debris.<\/p>\n
“Some of our search-and-rescue cameras that are up and coming now are a lot more technology wrapped up in that. Some we can put sensors on the ground and actually hear people talking to us through collapsed rubble,” LaBarr said.<\/p>\n
The equipment “makes us able to find victims a lot quicker, a lot easier,” he added.<\/p>\n
Police departments have undergone similar changes. The Philadelphia Police Department established a homeland security unit in 2001 and later expanded it into what is now known as the Tactical Support Bureau.<\/p>\n
Officers throughout the region also routinely train for chemical and biological threats. Just as important, officials say, is the increased collaboration among agencies.<\/p>\n
“I mean, before 9\/11, some people worked with silos,” said Derrick Wood, chief of Penn Police and a former Philadelphia police inspector.<\/p>\n
Wood pointed to the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a fusion center that brings together federal, state, and local agencies to share information and discuss potential threats.<\/p>\n
“One of the things also created from 9\/11 was a DIVIC, Delaware Valley Intelligence Center. It’s a fusion center. They’re all across the country. All the agencies, their federal agencies, local and state, work together, and right here down in South Philly, work together. And we talk about those things. We meet every month to talk about these different things and any threats,” Wood said.<\/p>\n
Beyond counterterrorism, Wood said police training now includes subjects such as mental health awareness and trauma-informed response.<\/p>\n
“We have more technology than we had before 9\/11. But so the same, now they get trained in trauma-informed stuff like that. They get trained with mental health awareness. So it’s how you can dispatch. You need somebody for mental health. You need somebody for retail theft or whatever,” he said.<\/p>\n
Officials say agencies across the region have also increased patrols and security measures around potential targets.<\/p>\n
The result, they say, is an emergency response system shaped by the lessons of Sept. 11 and focused on preparing for threats the public may never see.<\/p>\n
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