Copyright 2006 Chattanooga Publishing Company
By CLIFF HIGHTOWER
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
DAYTON, Tenn. — Rhea County emergency crews responded to the scene of a roof collapse at Rhea Central Elementary School on Thursday, but this scene wasn’t real.
Instead, the school was the site of the county’s first major disaster drill, school and emergency officials said.
“This is the first time we’ve ever conducted a drill of this magnitude,” Rhea County School Superintendent Dallas Smith said.
Eleven law enforcement and emergency agencies participated, along with 125 school staff and faculty and more than 200 student volunteers who acted as victims during the drill, officials said.
The drill started at 4 p.m. and lasted just more than an hour.
Mr. Smith said planning for the event started more than a year ago after officials looked at security plans for all seven of the county’s schools.
He said officials decided a drill was needed to assess the needs of the schools and the responses of emergency personnel.
“We’re glad it’s taking place,” said Harold “Bimbo” McCawley, chairman of the Rhea County Board of Education. “This is something we’ve needed for a long time.”
The disaster scenario simulated a roof collapsing at the elementary school and a fire breaking out, officials said. About 10 students were recruited to portray injured children. They were treated and were loaded into waiting ambulances. One group of rescuers surrounded a gurney and ran it to an emergency helicopter sitting nearby.
Sixteen-year-old Beth Fore, a sophomore at Rhea County High School, was the student who was rushed to the helicopter.
“It was kind of scary,” she said. “It would have been scarier if it wasn’t fake.”
School board member Bill Davault said one important aspect of the drill would be for parents to know what areas are designated areas for them to go to in case of an emergency.
That’s especially true at Rhea Central Elementary, which is the largest of the county’s schools with 1,200 students, he said.
“I don’t know what it would be like if we had something like this and had 1,200 parents coming out to pick up their children,” Mr. Davault said. “It would be a nightmare.”
School officials said there are also concerns because every school except one lies within a mile of railroad tracks. Trains on those tracks sometimes carry hazardous cargo, officials said.
Sheriff Mike Neal said a discussion will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Rhea County Courthouse about what was learned at the drill. Overall, he said it was a success.
“We didn’t have any problems whatsoever,” he said, although he added that some communication issues cropped up. He said that some emergency personnel were using radios tuned to different frequencies.
“Everything went well, and everything clicked,” he said.
He said a second drill is being planned in Spring City during the summer.