Emergency workers say their job has changed since 9/11

Emergency workers and responders in Boone County say their job has changed tremendously since September 11th happened 15 years ago.

Boone County Fire Protection District told ABC 17 News that the Department is continuously training firefighters and reminding them to think of the ‘what if’ scenarios.

Gale Blomenkamp, Boone County Fire Protection District said, “You don’t know what’s on the other side, we always are thinking of the what ifs, ” he said, “nothing can prepare you for what happened on 9/11, no one would ever have thought that the twin towers would have fallen down like that.”

62 members of Missouri’s Task Force One responded to September 11th to aide in the help and rescue efforts.

Task force one, centered in Boone County, is one of only 28 specialized urban search and rescue teams in the country.

Terry Cassil, Director of Emergency Management told ABC 17 News that, “In 15 years, we’ve gone to a what we call a all hazards approach because we don’t know what emergencies are going to happen but we have to be ready for anything.”

Chad Martin, Director of Boone County Joint Communications said over the last 15 years the evolution of technology has helped make emergency responders, and call takers jobs much easier. “How we share information, and how we collaborate together.”