As the paper hits your mailbox on Thursday, there’s a very good chance that the planned multi-agency readiness exercise will be underway.  The organizers want the public to be absolutely aware that events going on around town are part of a planned exercise involving the high school and other areas in town, including the hospital, and not cause for alarm.  

While the specific details of the timeline and events are limited to those involved in the drill in order to make it as effective for training as possible, the general description is that “there will be a scenario of an active shooter, Oneida County Sheriff deputies will enter, apprehend the suspect and deem the scene safe for Oneida County Ambulance EMT’s to then enter, triage and treat patients, then transport to the hospital.”

Events surrounding the drill will largely take place from around 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Emergency vehicles will be staged at the scene and en route to the hospital. There will be road closures and access to areas will be denied to anyone not involved in the training drill.  Organizers “would like the community to stay away from the area so each agency can focus on the drill and the skills needed to perform their duties.”  

While there are drills that are run with less information distributed to the public, these are primarily designed to incorporate the effect of public reaction into the training.  The focus for this drill, however, is on the individual protocols and procedures of the agencies involved, as well as their ability to communicate with and work with each other.

ISU’s Theater department will be involved with what is called “moulage,” which refers to the use of makeup, costumes, and various techniques to “dress” the victims in a realistic manner in terms of injury.  A simpler version of an exercise like this would use cards with the “victim” condition written on it for the use of the emergency personnel.  A full moulage allows for the artificiality of the situation to be partially overcome, hopefully leading to more practical experience as a result.  The public, however, should note that any “injured” individual they observe as part of the drill is not actually injured, and beyond that, is already in the presence of the same emergency personnel who would be called in for an actual emergency.

Citizens are encouraged not to contact the county dispatcher with concerns about the exercise, as problems with the communication network as a result of high call volume are not being tested in this exercise.

The emotional stress on responders is also not a goal outcome for this exercise, and so the individuals involved have volunteered to participate in the drill knowing ahead of time that it may be traumatic for some individuals, who are welcome to sit this one out, so to speak.

The final check-in meeting for Thursday’s drill brought the participants together at the Fire Station to finalize the timeline, ask questions, suggest revisions to the program, and consult with one another on logistics.  

Once again, the emergency response organizations in Oneida County reiterate that Thursday’s events around town, especially at the school and hospital, are training related.  The hospital, of course, reserves the right to alter its participation in the drill depending on what may be occurring at its facility on Thursday independent of the drill. As organizer Darin Letzring stated, “real emergencies will trump any fake emergencies.” 

Agencies involved include: Oneida County Ambulance, Oneida County Schools, Oneida County Search and Rescue, Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, Nell J Redfield Memorial Hospital, Oneida County Officials, IHLA,  Idaho Enterprise, Tera Young (ISU), Dan Williams (Oneida County Emergency Preparedness Coordinator) and Darin Letzring and others from the Idaho Office of Emergency Management, and others.