CRESTLINE — An emergency response involving 29 different agencies occurred at Sunrise Cooperative, the result of a two-vehicle crash with injuries and a fatality, along with a chemical spill.
Luckily for the victims, the blood fake and their lives were not actually in jeopardy.
The event was part of an annual exercise by the Crawford County Emergency Management Agency. Many times, the exercise is a tabletop meeting, but this year’s edition involved approximately 100 players in the exercise including fire departments, various law enforcement agencies, medical personnel, and members of the Ohio departments of transportation and natural resources.
The event also had evaluators from EMA offices in Wyandot, Marion and Richland counties, Red Cross, fire departments, state agencies and more.
The scenario involved two vehicles involved in a head-on collision, injuring two people injured in each vehicle. One vehicle was carrying tanks of chlorine, which began to leak as did diesel fuel.
The exercise called for a mock evacuation of a 10-block radius and decontamination.
EMA Director Kirk Williamson said the purpose of the exercise is to meet a state requirement through the Ohio Revised Code, but to also have multiple agencies work together, especially the HAZMAT and DECON teams.
“This is huge for when we do have a real-world situation,” Williamson said. “It shows our strengths and weaknesses and what everyone’s roles are in those situations.”
Williamson said there always will be things to work on, but overall the event went well. He said improving communications between multiple agencies on handheld radios is something that could be improved on, especially with local fire departments’ new MARCS radios.
He said the experience is especially useful for younger and newer members of the different agencies who may not have come in contact with a similar real-world situation.
Williamson also gave his thanks to Sunrise Cooperative who hosted the event in their building and parking lot and helped set up the event.
“We cannot thank Sunrise enough,” Williamson said. “They went completely out of their way. Their help was not something we’d expect from any agency. They have bent over backwards to take care of us.”
Citizens may receive the most up-to-date emergency alerts by signing up with the Crawford County WENS System.