The broader impacts of the incident including major transportation
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2024 6:10 am
CHEMTREC’s Crisis Response team recently visited the town of Garnett, Anderson County (KS) to conduct a full-scale exercise involving a local chemical plant for their local emergency management team and emergency responders. CHEMTREC worked closely with the Anderson County team over the past several months to identify credible risks and capabilities that the county needed to test, and to turn this into a viable scenario.
CHEMTREC Live Drilling Blog Image
The live exercise simulated a collision between a truck carrying chlorine cylinders from a local investor database plant and two cars on Interstate 169. The live exercise was conducted with actors, vehicles, props, and the use of smoke grenades to simulate a chlorine release. Ensuring that the scenario is as realistic as possible is a critical aspect of any live exercise, the live exercise should be the culmination of any exercise program and should aim to create an immersive environment where all aspects of the plan are tested in as realistic an environment as possible. This was achieved during this exercise, with the actors even calling 911 and using the local dispatch center to initiate the exercise. Suddenly, the Anderson County plan was no longer a set of pages sitting on a shelf, but a living document, tested in response to a simulated scenario.
Using a live exercise, with the resources available to the county on the day, highlighted the challenges facing a small county like Anderson County, and the solutions that could be implemented. With the support of a hazmat specialist more than two hours away, the local fire department, EMS, and hospital were responsible for scaling up the scene, making it as safe as possible, safely rescuing people, decontaminating the scene, treating casualties, and dealing with disruption. The job the responders did went beyond what was outlined in their plan. While larger departments were clearly lacking in capacity, resources, and staff, they demonstrated their resourcefulness and knowledge to make the scene safe and protect people and the wider environment. The exercise then provided a realistic test bed to learn from their plans, improve and update them based on the best practices observed through the exercise. The personal relationships we have built and a deeper understanding of the other agencies that responded to the exercise strengthened the county's resilience to future incidents and exercises.
CHEMTREC Live Drilling Blog Image
The live exercise simulated a collision between a truck carrying chlorine cylinders from a local investor database plant and two cars on Interstate 169. The live exercise was conducted with actors, vehicles, props, and the use of smoke grenades to simulate a chlorine release. Ensuring that the scenario is as realistic as possible is a critical aspect of any live exercise, the live exercise should be the culmination of any exercise program and should aim to create an immersive environment where all aspects of the plan are tested in as realistic an environment as possible. This was achieved during this exercise, with the actors even calling 911 and using the local dispatch center to initiate the exercise. Suddenly, the Anderson County plan was no longer a set of pages sitting on a shelf, but a living document, tested in response to a simulated scenario.
Using a live exercise, with the resources available to the county on the day, highlighted the challenges facing a small county like Anderson County, and the solutions that could be implemented. With the support of a hazmat specialist more than two hours away, the local fire department, EMS, and hospital were responsible for scaling up the scene, making it as safe as possible, safely rescuing people, decontaminating the scene, treating casualties, and dealing with disruption. The job the responders did went beyond what was outlined in their plan. While larger departments were clearly lacking in capacity, resources, and staff, they demonstrated their resourcefulness and knowledge to make the scene safe and protect people and the wider environment. The exercise then provided a realistic test bed to learn from their plans, improve and update them based on the best practices observed through the exercise. The personal relationships we have built and a deeper understanding of the other agencies that responded to the exercise strengthened the county's resilience to future incidents and exercises.