Ohio drill has 'radioactive' plane crash into soccer tournament
During exercise, investigators suspected terrorist attack, but that information was not included on emergency preparedness Twitter feed
By Pamela Engel
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus first responders and government agencies must be prepared for anything — including a radioactive plane crash in the middle of a soccer tournament.
As part of a scenario designed to test the preparedness of Columbus agencies, about a dozen volunteer "victims" spread out around the smoldering front end of a small plane at Bolton Field yesterday.
Those on the scene said the plane, carrying four passengers, crash-landed on the field while a large soccer tournament was going on nearby. Some spectators were hit with debris from the plane.
One man, decorated with painted-on blood, jerked around on the ground as a medic shouted, "We need to get him decontaminated!" Sensors on the fire trucks detected radioactive material, and victims needed to be transported to local hospitals.
"We do these tests because this is a potential incident that could happen anywhere," said Mike McNutt, a spokesman for Columbus Public Health.
Hundreds more volunteer victims were at another site in Westerville. They were transported to hospitals as well. All 10 hospitals in Franklin County received volunteers for "treatment," according to a news release from Columbus Public Health.
Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center received 37 fake victims, said Michael Gregory, the hospital's director of safety and emergency preparedness. Staff at the emergency center determined the level of treatment each victim would need and decontaminated them outside the building.
"From inception all the way to the end, we're going to be testing this," McNutt said.
That even includes correcting misinformation on Twitter. If something like this happened in real life, "it would explode on Twitter," McNutt said. People in the area might tweet out incorrect speculation or rumors, and public-information officers on the scene would help correct it with Columbus Public Health's emergency preparedness Twitter account @CPHOEP.
During the exercise, @CPHOEP responded to a fake account spreading misinformation, stating, "@ARMADA_Exercise. This is an exercise. There are no risks to people, animals or zombies. #boltx."
During the exercise, investigators suspected a terrorist attack, but that information was not included on the Twitter feed. Officials on the scene have to restrict certain information, said Bill Ehrgood, a spokesman for the Columbus Division of Fire. Public information officers participated in the exercise to practice working together in an emergency situation.
"We get to know each other without all the chaos and death and destruction," Ehrgood said.
Sgt. Rich Weiner, a spokesman for the Columbus Division of Police, said the agencies must work together.
"It's just like a baseball team," he said. "After a couple of practices, you know who the shortstop is and who the left fielder is and what they're going to do."
Columbus agencies put on exercises of this kind about once every two to three years, McNutt said.
|
All Rights Reserved
