LAKEPORT — If you drove down Bevins Court in Lakeport Thursday and saw what looked like a chemical attack, don”t worry.
It was actually the opposite, a mock disaster training planned since last April involving the practice of decontamination and containment techniques.
The four-day training simulation, conducted at the Public Health Department, gives county emergency responder teams the chance to find out what they need to improve upon to make any actual disaster or decontamination operation go as effectively and efficiently as possible.
The training involved the Department of Public Health, the Lakeport Fire Department, Tribal Health, Redbud Hospital, Environmental Health and Animal Care & Control. It constitutes one of several county efforts to make responses faster and more productive during emergencies.
Public Health Department staffer Tricia Austin, who also wears the county”s assistant bioterrism coordinator hat, said the training”s objective is “to learn how to use the equipment so that when we actually have an event we can do so smoothly and also to find out what additional equipment needs to be purchased.”
Hazmat experts say that the three keys to a successful training or drill are timeliness, coordination and communication.
On the second day of the training course, funded by federal grants, there was no particular hazardous agent used, but the training centered on what would be water soluble agents.
After the mock victims arrived on scene they were triaged and sorted into categories using triage tags labeled morgue, immediate, delayed and minor.
The “victims”, who were divided into either ambulatory or nonambulatory, were taken through the decontamination line. Back boards and the conveyer belt was used for persons not able to walk through the three-line decontamination tent.
This was the first use of the tent as well as the generator used to power the hot water heater. There was some difficulty in starting the generator, said Austin. “That”s why we”re doing this, to work out the kinks and also to make people aware of the resource that these decontamination units are.”
Austin added, “Everybody was pleased with the results of this training. They enjoyed it and had fun with what they learned.”
Contact Cynthia Davis at cdavis@record-bee.com.
