First responders met all objectives in emergency exercise

CROOKSVILLE — On April 27, a Perry County full-scale emergency response exercise was held in Crooksville.

It started at 8:30 a.m. and lasted until 10:30a.m. This training exercise involved a tanker truck carrying anhydrous ammonia having a collision with a Perry County Transit passenger bus. This collision caused a white mist to start leaking from the truck, causing people’s eyes to burn.

County personnel were evaluated on eight different objectives and passed all eight. Perry County Emergency Management Agency carries out these training exercises to give first responders and supporting agencies the chance to increase their training along with awareness if it is ever needed in real life.

The fire/EMS agencies that were involved in coming to the scene, assessing, as well as getting control of the incident successfully, were New Lexington Fire Department, New Straitsville Fire Department, Crooksville Fire Department, Monday Creek Fire Department, Corning Fire Department, Hopewell Township Fire Department, Zanesville Fire Department /Hazmat Team, Newton Fire Department, and Falls Township Fire Department, and AirEvac.

EMA sends out huge thanks to Randy Moore of Randy Moore Petroleum, who provided the tanker truck used as a prop in the exercise, and to Lisa Leckrone and Perry County transit, whose driver also played the role of a victim in the incident.

A shout-out also to the Perry County 9-1-1 center for their awesome job of dispatching during this incident. The law enforcement agencies that participated by helping with traffic control and keeping the scene safe were Crooksville Police, New Lexington Police, Perry County Sheriff’s Office, Roseville Police, Junction City Police, and Ohio State Highway Patrol Lancaster Post.

Other supporting agencies that helped make this training exercise a success were the Perry County Health Department, Perry County Emergency Department, and Disaster Demons. A huge thank you to the evaluators that took the time to come evaluate everyone in this incident this allows everyone together as a whole to improve in any areas that may need improving — Ohio EMA, Muskingum County EMA, Athens County EMA, Hocking County EMA, and Retired Perry County EMA.

Lastly, a thank you to the other volunteers who were there from RSVP to help serve refreshments throughout the day, the other victims that were involved in the incident, Darrell’s Donuts, Dodson’s on Broadway for providing a great lunch for the participants afterwards, and the Perry County LEPC Planning Committee/Perry County EMA.

We are looking forward to the next few years where we will have another tabletop exercise, functional exercise, and full-scale exercise with a different scenario.

Submitted by the Perry County Emergency Management Agency