Volunteers Needed For Emergency Disaster Drill At Hagerstown Regional Airport

They will be part of an aircraft crash simulation.

 

Hagerstown, Md (KM) Volunteers are needed for an aircraft emergency disaster drill on Saturday, April 18th at Hagerstown Regional Airport. Garison Plessenger, the Director of the Airport, says they’ll work with Washington County fire and rescue crews, and the staff at Meritus Medical Center on a simulated aircraft crash. “The local fire departments  here, as well as emergency services in Washington County, the airport fire station as well, will be working together with other entities as well, such as Meritus, to kind put together a little drill of what could happen in event if there is an aircraft crash, and how we would go about tackling that,” he says.

Plessinger says the volunteers are needed to play the injured, and some could be playing dead. It’s all part of Merituas Medical Center running a mass casualty event. “So they’ll actually be  transporting simulated victims to their hospital and treating them accordingly,” he says.

The drill will allow the airport and the Washington County  Division of Emergency Services to test their emergency action plans. Volunteers will interact with first responders, including fire and rescue,  and Meritus Medical Center.

Plessinger says the drill, which will take place from 8:00 AM until 1:30 PM, will not interfere with regular airport activities. “It will all be coordinated with air traffic control. The airport will not shut down. Regular airport operations will still remain in affect,” he says.

Anyone interested in volunteering should go on line to www.eventbrite.com, and type in Hagerstown Regional Airport, and then click on “Airport Emergency Disaster Drill.” Volunteers must be at least 18-years of age, and no prior experience is needed. “You don’t have to be a resident of Washington County,” Plessinger says. “We’re very grateful for anyone who wants to come in and help us with this drill.”

 

By Kevin McManus