NORWICH – A group of about 70 professionals and volunteers will participate in a simulated emergency test set to take place in central Chenango County sometime during the week of April 6-12.
The exact time, place and date are being withheld intentionally in order to make the drill of local responders as authentic as possible. The event will serve to test the reactionary skills of state, county and municipal fire, police and emergency management officials, Chenango Memorial Hospital, the Chenango County Department of Public Health and a handful of other organizations.
Norwich Police and Fire Chief Joseph Angelino said the exercise offers an opportunity “to learn from our weaknesses in a in a controlled environment.” The role of the Norwich police would be limited in the event because most of the activity will take place outside of the city’s limits, Angelino added.
Coordinator Robert H. Benton, Jr., owner/operator of TASIS Communications, a Norwich-based emergency communications company, said the public is being made aware of the upcoming simulation for safety reasons. He said even though all emergency scanner announcements at the start and during the planned four-hour event should begin with a disclaimer, some responders might forget to say “this is a drill” and some listeners might become alarmed, regardless.
“We don’t want people to panic and rush to the site and/or crowd state Rt. 12 wanting to see where the action is,” Benton said Thursday.
Many of the organizations involved are participating in order to meet accreditation requirements. The Federal Emergency Management Association requires such emergency drills every three years. TASIS spearheaded a simulated anthrax contamination drill at the Chenango County Fairgrounds in 2004.
A committee made up of both event monitors and participants have been gathering periodically since December to work out details. Participants will act using pre-scripted scenarios that set up the scenes as they take place. Benton said the scripts, the contents of which won’t be known until the actual event, follow structures outlined by the federal government’s National Incident Management Systems and Incident Command Systems.
“This will be a test of our federal structures as well,” he said.
While the pre-planning phase takes away some of the surprise factor, Benton said the idea is to get as many people participating as possible.
“The learning curve goes up when more people are there to participate,” he said. “The idea is to gain experience.”
Angelino said a time limit was instituted in order to cut back on expenses from lost or damaged equipment during the event. The practice will be expensive for many of the organizations involved, for both equipment and overtime, Benton said.
“But that shows the hospital and other community organizations’ commitment to safety and security in the event of a real emergency,” he said.
Afterward, all of the responding agencies will receive a report highlighting recommendations for improvement. ‘We want to let people know what they are doing that is helping so they’ll be more aware and be able to test their capabilities the next time,” Benton said.
In a real emergency, citizens are advised to prepare to survive without government assistance for at least 72 hours. “One of the things that comes out of these tests is that people realize their government will be busy during an emergency,” Benton said. “Nothing will be available, so people must be prepared to be on their own.”