TABLE TOP EXERCISE CHALLENGED BY BUS AND GASOLINE TRUCK CRASH

(12/15/2009)

PARTICIPATING IN TABLE TOP: L to R (starting center) Grantsville Police Chief Charles Stephens, Magistrate Rick Postalwait, MHHS Bill Ellis, MHHS CEO Barb Lay, Calhoun County 911/OES Director Kathy Wood, Arnoldsburg VFD Harold Carpenter, Grantsville VFD JJ Bremar Calhoun's Local Emergency Planning Council (LEPC) in conjunction with the Calhoun Office of Emergency Services and several emergency responders, participated in a table-top disaster exercise Saturday at Calhoun's 911 Center. The mock disaster involved a Calhoun County High School varsity basketball team returning from Gilmer County on a Saturday afternoon, with 24 on a school bus. When the bus enters the bridge intersection at Rt 5 and Rt 16, the bus driver fails to see a tractor-trailer coming across the bridge. Unable to avoid a collision, the truck driver strikes the side-wall of the bridge, attempting to avoid hitting the bus, after which its tank starts spilling gasoline. The truck hits the side of the bus. First responders advise the accident is a HAZMAT scene, and all of the county's emergency services are summoned to the scene, with the Grantsville bridge blocked. Of the 24 total passengers, emergency responders have been able to extricate seven. The driver of the tractor-trailer leaves a total of 18 potential victims at the scene. Part of the process is to set up a triage area with Incident Command. The Saturday exercise was devoted to extracting victims, evaluating their condition and getting them medical care.

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