Litchfield County CT, Hazmt/Mass Casualty Drill 9/23/07

[Ladder44 73]

Litchfield hazmat drill draws many crews from area

09/24/2007

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By KEVIN D. ROBERTS

Register Citizen Staff

LITCHFIELD - Hundreds of local emergency responders prepared for the worst Sunday in a hazardous materials drill at Litchfield Middle School/High School.

Twenty departments, a handful of state agencies and 45 "victims" participated in the drill, which was slated to take place from 10:15 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"This is the first real drill of its kind (in the area)," chief Litchfield County coordinator Jeff Rudzavich, Watertown, said early Sunday afternoon.

The incident began when two vehicles, including one carrying a trailer with hazardous materials stored inside, simulated a collision in the driveway near the school soccer fields, Litchfield Fire Marshal Thomas O'Hare said. Those who played the roles of victims coughed as they succumbed to the hazardous material that they had breathed in.

"The biggest issue in any operation like this, especially for the Level A operation guys in this heat, (is) they can't operate for too long," O'Hare said.

Two firefighters ended up being treated for what appeared to be heat exhaustion, according to Rudzavich and Harwinton West Side Fire Chief Scott Kellogg, who served as a public information officer. Litchfield Fire Chief James Koser, who was the incident commander, declared a mass casualty incident, O'Hare said.

"Once you exceed what your level of capability is, then it's considered mass casualty," Kellogg said.

Kellogg served as a public information officer during the drill.

One after the other, departments began pouring in off of Constitution Way. The departments were staged at the Litchfield Town Garage and were activated according to how long it would take each to reach the scene from their department locations.

Area 5 coordinator Roy Piper of the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security observed the situation. If DEMHS was notified, Piper's Litchfield-based office, or even the emergency operations command stationed at the State Armory in Hartford could be activated. The State Armory would have representatives from the state's major agencies, including the state police, Coast Guard, Army and emergency management, among others.

Regional hazardous material units from Torrington, Waterbury and Danbury were notified of the incident. Decontamination units were set up during the incident and firefighters adjusted to the situation as they learned what the hazardous material was. Two firefighters who approached the scene were overcome by the material because they did not know what it was. Later on in the drill, a fire broke out in the trailer, simulated by a smoke machine.

"They're taking care of the fire, but they know something else is going on," Piper said as firefighters with breathing apparatuses on approached the fire and moved victims out of danger.

The drill was set up by JLN Associates Inc., a consultant. Kellogg said that preparation and research are key in situations dealing with hazardous materials.

"It's all about research," Kellogg said.

Primary and secondary command centers were set up, with the secondary communication center being controlled by local ham radio operators. The primary command center includes a incident commander, an operations officer, a safety officer, a hazmat officer, an emergency medical service liaison, a logistics officer and a public information officer. Regional hazmat team members donned Level A suits, which resemble blue tarps and cover the person's entire body and keep that person's breathing apparatus inside the suit, Piper said.

The main focus of the drill is to get the inoperability of the various departments in good condition, Kellogg said. Many have not worked together on such a scale. The state Department of Environmental Protection was called in. Many volunteer departments were involved in the drill. Charlotte Hungerford Hospital took in some patients to test out their response capabilities.