September 2, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
The tornado disaster drill conducted last Thursday by local emergency responders went well and DeKalb County’s Emergency Management Agency Director Charlie Parker was pleased with the response.
“I think it went very well. We did a critique afterwards and found areas where we can improve. We are required to have one full scale exercise each year and the whole purpose is to see how we can make our response and performance better if it were a real event,” said Parker.
Within minutes after receiving a 911 call, emergency responders sprung into action enroute to the scene of a simulated tornado touchdown on King Ridge Road near the DeKalb County Main Fire Station and at Green Brook Park.
Mannequins representing storm victims were placed at various spots at both locations.
“We have used LIVE patients in the past but this year we used mannequins and each one was tagged with what was wrong with them and how they needed to be treated. Some were tagged as walking wounded with minor injuries while others were tagged as more serious needing a lot of medical attention,” said Parker.
“Our responders in the field located all the patients and got them triaged to the appropriate facilities. We had several taken to Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital and a few went to NHC Healthcare Center. I think altogether 16 patients were treated during the drill,” added Parker.
The Local Emergency Planning Committee was involved in organizing the drill. The purpose of the committee is to analyze, plan, prepare, and mitigate for disasters both natural and manmade that could potentially occur in the county. The Local LEPC is comprised of the combined efforts of city and county elected officials, law enforcement, emergency management, fire departments, EMS, Rescue Squad, hospital, nursing home, utilities, business, industry, media, Red Cross, school system, churches, and civic organizations. This committee meets on a regular basis to work on plans, share information and conduct exercises to make a safer and stronger community.
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