MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Morgantown Municipal Airport will host a multi-agency emergency exercise Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel said the 300th Chemical Company, 485th Chemical Battalion, 76th Operational Response Command, Morgantown Police and Fire Departments, Mountain Line Transit Authority, local hospitals, county, and federal public safety agencies will respond to a simulated crash of a U.S. Army C-130 transport aircraft on the airport grounds.
“We’re simulating that it will take place with a large crowd around, and the aircraft is carrying a hazardous material that will infect the crowd,” Vrabel said.
Airport personnel, along with local first responders, will be dispatched to the crash scene initially to assess the situation. As the situation unfolds, the other agencies that are needed will enact their emergency mobilization plans.
“We’ll rely on all the supporting agencies around the area to come up and help us with the people that ingest the chemical,” Vrabel said.
In addition to a test for the first responder community, up to 200 volunteers and mannequins will provide a life-like training scenario for the local medical community. Rather than a tabletop exercise, the medical community will actually respond, react, and incorporate the work of other agencies in real time during the event.
“Both hospitals, J. W. Ruby Memorial and Mon Health, are able to take part,” Vrabel said. “They’re able to exercise their plans like they do yearly, and they’re working with other agencies that they don’t always get to.”
The purpose of the exercise is to intentionally stress the local safety infrastructure when responding to a catastrophic accident. Agencies will review their performance and how they interacted with partners in order to make changes or additions to emergency plans.
“The U.S. Army will actually have their evaluators here too, so we’ll be able to get feedback from them as well,” Vrabel said. “We’ll have our own folks that will evaluate, and we’ll evaluate together.”