Chemical Spills, Bombs, Shootings and Hostages
Just one of many emergency vehicles at KWC during the drill
By James Mayse
Published: Friday, March 19, 2010
Messenger-Inquirer
Owensboro police and firefighters tested their emergency response plans on the campus of Kentucky Wesleyan College Thursday, during a mock disaster drill that included a simulated chemical spill, a bomb threat and a hostage situation in one of the college’s buildings.
The drill included ambulances services from four counties, helicopters, Owensboro Medical Health System and the fire department’s hazardous materials team, as well as the Owensboro Police Department’s emergency response team. The scenario also tested Kentucky Wesleyan’s emergency plan.
“This gives us a much better way to evaluate” the college’s plan, said Kathy Rutherman, public relations director for the college. “Going through a drill makes your evaluation much more effective.”
The scenario, which was kept secret from the agencies participating in the drill, involved a man with a gun who causes a chemical spill in the science building. The armed man then goes to a different building looking for his wife, beats a student and leaves behind a backpack he claims contains a bomb. In the administration building, the man opens fire, shooting students and a police officer before barricading himself in a classroom full of students.
The SWAT team clears a classroom of hostages
Steve Leonard, battalion chief and fire marshal for the Owensboro Fire Department, said the drill makes firefighters aware that a seemingly routine situation — such as a fire alarm call — could spiral into something larger.
“It makes us aware a routine situation can change at any point,” Leonard said. “It keeps us from being so complacent.
“The best thing for us is it gives all our personnel the opportunity … to train in as near a realistic situation as we can create,” Leonard said.
The drill was held during the week of Kentucky Wesleyan’s spring break.
“I really tried to do this when (school) was in session, but it was going to be too much chaos,” said David Knight, Kentucky Wesleyan’s director of facilities. “We’ve been working on this for six months,” he said.
Emergency medical personnel aid a "pregnant" student who was injured
About 45 college students and staff members acted the roles of victims during the drill. Cindra Stiff, the college’s director of finance said the drill helped college administrators review the emergency plan and response system, which includes sending e-mails, text messages and voicemail calls to every student and faculty member when an crisis happens.
“We’ve been sending ‘one-call’ (messages) every 10 minutes,” Stiff said. The messages inform campus members and families that the school is locked down and to stay where they are safe.
“We’re not disclosing enough details that would cause curiosity,” Stiff said.
David Thompson, deputy chief for OPD, said the exercise allows the department to evaluate how officers responded and what needs to be changed.
“We’ll take some of the problems that may have arose from this exercise and try to correct them, so when we get to a real situation, some of those problems will have been worked out,” Thompson said.
During a debriefing Wednesday afternoon, representatives from the agencies discussed issues such as communication difficulties and the need to maintain security for responders. Paul Nave, who will be director of the city and county’s combined 911 dispatch center when it opens later this summer, said the drill was valuable “because we learn from them and no one gets hurt.”
“It was a great training experience for us,” Nave said. “We saw some defects we need to improve and some positives we have in place.”
Gordon Wilkerson, a spokesman for OMHS, said the hospital set up a decontamination tent outside the emergency room to clean chemicals from people playing the role of victims of toxic gas.
“We hadn’t tested that previously,” Wilkerson said. “ … I think things went really well. We involved the emergency department … the administration and the entire organization.”
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Here’s a quick video of one of the helicopters taking off as it transports a wounded student to the hospital:
For more photos of the mock disaster, visit KWC’s Flickr gallery.
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