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Multi-Agency Drill - Emergency Plans Tested During Community Exercise

Anyone passing by the Mid South Coliseum on the morning of November 9 had to wonder ....what just happened?

Soon after 9-1-1 calls went out reporting a loud "bang" in the area, the parking lot was wrapped in yellow caution tape surrounding ambulances, MATA buses, pumper fire trucks, hazard materials and decontamination equipment, search dogs, the bomb squad, and numerous other emergency vehicles.

First responders swarmed the area running to and from the building - only stopping to take commands from hand-held radios. Police squad cars blocked the entrances and exits with blue strobe lights blinding onlookers. Hundreds of screaming, bloody "victims" were heard yelling "help me!" as they were methodically escorted from the smoke-filled building by fire fighters wearing full turnouts. Away from the building were EMT's waiting to triage and tag the "victims" according to their medical condition. A decontamination area was erected nearby for those who were inside the building at the time of the blast.

Ambulances and buses then transported the "victims" to area hospital emergency departments for treatment.

As horrible as it looked, it was all just a drill.

The pretend scenario was an explosion inside the arena during a large community event. "Injured citizens," played by actor volunteers, were made up to look cut, bruised and bloody. The blast was radiological in nature and left a crater-size hole in the seating area. It was a terrorist attack. To complicate matters, there was a secondary explosive device in the parking lot hidden inside an abandoned car. As the bomb squad "robot" attempted to remove the unknown object inside the lone car, search dogs and their handlers sought out unconscious victims and possible evidence inside the coliseum's arena.

This multi-agency drill required federal, state, regional, and local emergency agencies to work together to establish an Incident Command System (ICS), activate the Shelby County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and set up a Joint Information Center (JIC).

A communications network was quickly implemented across various departments to disseminate information as accurately and quickly as possible about this event. The presence of hazardous materials added another layer of danger and required decontamination efforts and unusually tight security around the area.

During this drill, regional hospitals were tested on their ability to handle a "medical surge" of multiple victims. The drill created an opportunity for the medical community to receive and track patients who were transferred to their facility by bus and ambulance, as well as taking in the walk-in victims.

This full-scale, multi-agency exercise, sponsored by the Shelby County Office of Preparedness, under the direction of Bob Nations, Jr., was designed to be as realistic as possible in order to test emergency response plans, policies and procedures during a terrorist attack.

A team of emergency officials, lead by Kimberlyn Bouler, Planning Officer from the Office of Preparedness, intended to create a learning environment for all involved. Evaluators were on site at all locations during the drill to observe first hand how participants reacted to the disaster. Following the exercise, all participating agencies gathered back at the Emergency Operations Center to review and identify strengths and weaknesses during the drill.