Bloomington – On Wednesday, September 23rd at 9:00 a.m., a full scale emergency management exercise will take place just west of State Road 46 and Curry Pike, (North Park) west of Bloomington. The Emergency Planning and Right to Know Act requires the Monroe County Local Emergency Planning Committee’s Emergency Response Plan to be exercised at least once annually. By conducting an exercise, the Monroe County Local Emergency Planning Committee meets an Indiana Emergency Response Commission’s requirements to receive Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act funding.
A staged bus crash will serve as the scenario for emergency responders to handle. Actors portraying injured victims along with props indicating a hazardous spill will also be dealt with as not only public safety officials respond to the scene, but members of the private sector and other government agencies as well.
Emergency response exercises play a vital role in national preparedness by enabling whole community stakeholders to test and validate plans and capabilities, and identify both capability gaps and areas for improvement. A well-designed exercise provides a low-risk environment to test capabilities, familiarize personnel with roles and responsibilities, and foster meaningful interaction and communication across organizations. Exercises bring together and strengthen the whole community in its efforts to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from all hazards. Overall, exercises are cost-effective and useful tools that help the nation practice and refine our collective capacity to achieve the core capabilities in the National Preparedness Goal.
Monroe County Local Emergency Planning Committee Chairman John Hooker stated “whether it’s an exercise like this or a full scale emergency or disaster, it takes the entire public safety community along with other government entities to work together to ensure injuries and loss of life are minimal. It is of the upmost importance that these participants know each other and what their roles would be long before any real world emergency takes place. It is our goal that we will achieve that during this exercise”.
This exercise will allow first responders, volunteers, elected officials, emergency managers, private industry and others a chance to implement those skills necessary to protect lives and property during a simulated catastrophic event. This is accomplished by providing all-hazards training that emphasizes the importance of prevention, protection, response, and recovery. The goal of the exercise is to improve the overall readiness and core capabilities of emergency response by validating training, emergency plans and procedures to reveal strengths and weaknesses, demonstrate operational capabilities, and to prepare personnel for real world events.
Several public safety agencies and groups will be participating in this year’s exercise including;
Monroe County Emergency Management, Monroe County Highway Department, IU Health Bloomington Hospital, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe County Central Dispatch, Perry Fire Department, Clear Creek Fire Department, Bloomington Fire Department, Ellettsville Fire Department, Ellettsville Police Department, Bloomington Township Fire Department, Van Buren Fire Department, Indiana State Police, IU Health – Bloomington Hospital EMTs, City of Bloomington Utilities, I-69 Partners, Indiana Department of Transportation and Crider & Crider Incorporated.
ATTENDING MEDIA – Please plan on staging no later than 8:45 AM at a designated area the day of the exercise.
