First responders prepare with disaster training exercises in Pueblo County
PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- First responders from across Pueblo County came together Wednesday for a variety of disaster preparedness training exercises.
The day began at Parkhill Baptist Church in Pueblo where "the making of a victim" exercise was undertaken. There, emergency responders treated accident victims in a real-world emergency scenario. Specially trained individuals applied casts to the players who were acting as accident victims.
Next, the Pueblo Chemical Depot held a simulated emergency drill in its operations center. Inside that operations center first responders followed protocol for a real-world event where motor rounds were dropped, resulting in injuries inside the Chemical Depot installation.
The @PuebloCountySO and @PFDPIO are conducting a mock hazmat situation. Here you can see the site of a crop duster plane crash. @KRDONC13 pic.twitter.com/rVlhg7Qnxe
— Sean Rice KRDO (@SeanRiceTV) May 4, 2022
Four agencies from across Pueblo County responded to a mock hazmat situation at Rusler Produce in the Avondale area. The situation was a crop duster plane crash carrying a chemical agent pesticide. The Pueblo Fire department treated over a dozen crash victims and simulated going through the decontamination process when arriving at a hazardous materials situation.
"We are looking at a bus crash also with a plane crash," Samantha Dosen with Pueblo West Fire said. "Right now we are looking at twenty victims but we will make sure we have those numbers confirmed as we investigate this crash."
Dosen was delivering a message to media on scene as if the crash was real, and they were just arriving on scene to assess the crash site.
Wednesday's exercise was only a trial run. It was the opportunity for first responders to respond quickly to a hazmat situation and have evaluators on scene testing their preparedness.
"Under normal circumstances this would provide us to give information to the community in a timely manner and for them to find a one stop shop for crisis communication," Dosen said.
Fire crews participated in the decontamination process when they arrived at the dangerous hazmat scene. This process helps protect the first responders health first and foremost, according to fire officials.
"Respiratory illness. Respiratory is the biggest one, so we have to make sure that everyone is going in with their air packs on, all of their SCBA's on. All of their protective equipment," Pueblo West Fire Chief Michael Furney said.
Wednesday's mock scenario offered the four different agencies an opportunity to work together before it becomes the real thing. It's an effort that can save someone's life one day.
"For us, it's the one job that we have when we show up here and follow that proper chain of command to report back information so that the public and agencies know what they are dealing with," Dosen said.
2,000 people participated in today's mock exercises at three separate locations.
