By Ammie Ruddle
Emergency service coordinators and members gathered at AGK Italian Restaurant in Franklin for their quarterly Pendleton County Local Emergency Planning Committee meeting.
Officials discussed several items during the brief meeting.
However, the most important aspect of the meeting was the discussion of a county-wide rescue squad exercise.
This exercise will take place in three steps in a period of a year. The simulated accident will include a school bus with children and a semi-truck hauling hazardous material.
The initial step will be a tabletop discussion to map out specifics of the exercise. This will include additional training information needed for emergency service personnel to prepare for the simulation.
The second step is a functional discussion, including seminars, workshops and tabletop exercises. These types of exercises typically highlight existing plans, policies, interagency and inter-jurisdictional agreements and procedures.
The final step will be a full-scale emergency simulation exercise. This will simulate the real event as closely as possible. It is designed to evaluate the operational capability of emergency response. It will be conducted in a stressful environment that simulates actual response conditions. It will also require the mobilization and actual movement of emergency personnel, equipment, and resources.
Another topic of discussion was that there have been no major fires in “several years,” said several officials.
They also mentioned the number of wrecks involving semi-trucks has decreased in recent months.
The committee has completed the emergency plan, the Emergency Support Function #10 Haz-Mat plan, which is an 80-page document for hazardous material.
Additional details regarding the stimulation will be discussed at the next meeting; the date has not been set.