On April 30, 2016, emergency responders will participate in a live training exercise at Marion Intermodal, 2565 Harding Highway East in Marion. The exercise is designed to test the county’s Hazardous Materials Response Plan by simulating a crisis situation.
The Marion County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) annual exercise is scheduled to begin at approximately 9:00 a.m. and should be completed by noon.
22 local agencies will be participating in the simulation, including local firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical services, Marion General Hospital and the Marion County HazMat Team. This training exercise is being coordinated by the members of the Marion County LEPC, with the Ohio Emergency Response Commission (SERC) monitoring the procedures of the responders to evaluate performance and effectiveness.
“Full-scale exercises are very important,” said Sheriff Tim Bailey. “All of Marion County’s public safety partners practice and plan for multiple large scale incidents. That way if an actual incident does occur it’s not the first time we’ve done it so we are better prepared to handle the event and mitigate injuries and property damage.”
Marion Intermodal is hosting the training exercise this year and is an active member of the LEPC. Clint
Canterbury, Fire Chief at 1st Consolidated Fire District is excited to be working with Marion Intermodal.
“Marion Intermodal has been very generous to volunteer the use of their facility for our County Exercise this year,” said Canterbury. “They not only have an excellent safety record, their safety officers recognize the importance of training and planning with the whole community.”
“This training is imperative in order to make Marion County safer for our residents, businesses, visitors and first responders,” said Canterbury. “The training will allow responders to improve our interoperability between agencies and correct problems before a real disaster strikes. In a real disaster situation, there are no second chances.”
All areas where the exercise will take place will be clearly marked and the LEPC has taken steps to
minimize any disruption of daily activity for the residents near the play locations. The LEPC intentionally simulated a much larger incident than possible to ensure that all facets of the county plan can be practiced and evaluated, but residents are asked to remain alert as there may be increased local first responder traffic, as well as simulated smoke in and around Marion Intermodal and Tri-Rivers Career Center.
“We work very hard in our county to make sure we have the proper contingency plans in place for any kind of emergency,” said Sarah McNamee, Marion County EMA Director. “These exercises provide a good opportunity to train our responders and test our plans, making it easier to identify where gaps exist and fix them before they become critical issues in a real emergency.”
Members of the public that wish to observe the exercise or volunteer to participate may contact the Marion County EMA office at (740) 223-4142.
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