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Posted on: Wednesday, 20
June 2007, 06:00 CDT

Disaster Crews Learn From Test: Agencies Serving the Purchase Area Tackle
Earthquake-Related Issues.

By Angie Kinsey, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Jun. 20--MAYFIELD, Ky. -- Practice makes perfect -- that's the one thing
local emergency response workers agreed on after responding to a simulated
magnitude 7.7 earthquake Tuesday.

"We're learning a whole lot," McCracken County Emergency Management Director
Kent King said. "A lot of folks have never been through one of these exercises.
It's the best on-the-job training to see what you need to improve on ahead of
time. There are always improvements that need to be made. The worse type of
exercise is when everyone pats themselves on the back for a great job and no one
learns anything."

The national exercise, "Spill of National Significance (SONS) 07," was
designed to increase the preparedness of response organizations from the field
level to agency heads in Frankfort and Washington, D.C. The drill began at 9
a.m. Tuesday with the simulated earthquake centered near Marked Tree, Ark.,
causing structural and infrastructural damage, public safety issues, and major
hazardous materials spills throughout the region.

The regional emergency operation center was set up at the Graves County
Health Department. Agencies represented included Kentucky State Police, the U.S.
Coast Guard and Army, the Purchase District Health Department, and the American
Red Cross.

In Area 1, the eight Jackson Purchase counties, area responders focused on
emergency public information and warning, communications, and structural damage
assessment. All of the counties, expect for Fulton, had contacted the regional
center with damage information by 9:30 a.m.

Fulton County had trouble contacting the center by satellite phone, which
most of the other counties used for communication, said Lori King, Area 1
manager and state earthquake program manager for the Kentucky Division of
Emergency Management.

Exercise controllers gave each county a damage report. McCracken suffered the
most simulated damage with 107 dead, 481 missing and 388 hospitalized. Other
counties reported damage to roads, two-story structures, fire department
equipment and water systems and a need for shelters.

"They're learning, too," Lori King said of the county's emergency operations
centers. "It's been very worthwhile. We're all learning together."

The drill will continue today in Paducah with exercises planned by Shell Oil
and the Coast Guard. State officials also will test resource management in
Bowling Green today and shelter preparations in Somerset on Thursday.

-----

To see more of The Paducah Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.paducahsun.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, The Paducah Sun, Ky.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email [email-masked], call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group
Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Source: The Paducah Sun

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