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St. Cloud State University
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Disaster drill to come to campus
By Paul Solsrud
Published:
Thursday, June 26, 2003
The SCSU campus will play host to a mock terrorist attack August 18. Approximately 100 "victims" will be "rescued" and "treated" for injuries ranging from serious to mild by the surrounding emergency agencies as well as law enforcement divisions. Additional victims may be assigned the role of playing dead.
Because of its large size, the mock attack will occur in SCSU's Halenbeck Hall, Public Safety Director Miles Heckendorn said. This large building resembles a potential terrorist target due to the large numbers of people who can be contaminated quickly and easily.
"We were looking for places that could be considered possible targets and Halenbeck was one of them," Heckendorn said.
The mock attack will involve the spread of fake mustard gas into Halenbeck by means of either an explosion or by "entering" the gas into the hall's ventilation system.
The elaborate drill will dwarf the long-forgotten fire drills once enjoyed by grade school students and will include tests and various scenarios to assess the emergency operations of the city of St. Cloud, the St. Cloud Police Department, the St. Cloud Fire Department, St. Cloud Hospital, regional hospitals, Stearns County Health Services and the SCSU Public Safety Department as well as the rest of the departments on campus.
According to Heckendorn, the drill will be an opportunity for not only the law enforcement teams and local health care facilities to learn their strengths and weaknesses, but also for SCSU employees who would likely be involved if an attack should ever take place.
"SCSU employees who are working that day, (a potential attack day) could help (officials) with their supervisor's permission," Heckendorn said. "We will have employees available to answer phones (at SCSU) because SCSU would be inundated with phone calls from friends and relatives (of students and staff on campus) if we'd ever have an attack."
This drill will also involve the services of surrounding communities who will be called in to help with any real emergencies at the time of the drill. According to Heckendorn, the Red Cross, Gold Cross Ambulance and the MTC will also be involved because of the potential confusion.
Not only will the victims be treated and cared for on the campus, they will be taken to the hospital in attempt to test the hospital's facilities and the security around the hospital.
Another potential problem hospitals would have to face in a real attack could be the arrival of victims who have delayed symptoms after the attack; victims who could be potentially harder to treat because of the misunderstood symptoms.
"Some (victims) may just walk away and walk into the hospital after the fact," Heckendorn said. "It (the drill) will test the safety of SCSU and the community."
Similar drills were carried out throughout the last decade. However, these drills were not nearly as extravagant. They normally only consisted of 15-20 victims and had less involvement from health organizations and law enforcement groups. This drill will be of massive proportion and "even the FBI will be present," Heckendorn said. "This is a great opportunity to bring SCSU into the mix of participants."
Victim's roles will range from deceased to seemingly unaffected; this will give the respondents the opportunity to treat varying degrees of injuries. The drill will include responding to alerts, decontaminating and transporting victims to area hospitals, establishing security for the area, setting up command posts and handling communications.
The victims will be decontaminated by showers that will be set up in the parking lot of Halenbeck.
To aid in the drill, SCSU is seeking approximately 150 volunteers to be pretend victims. These volunteers can be of any age and do not have to be affiliated with the college in any way; the community is also urged to help with the large number of people needed.
"We have a desperate need for anyone who wants to play dead," Volunteer Connection Coordinator Lissa Staples said.
Volunteers will be assigned "jobs" when they arrive at Halenbeck. They will then be needed for several hours to cooperate with the emergency personnel. Volunteers are asked to wear swimsuits under "clothing they consider disposable" because of the decontamination practice at the end. The decontamination process will require that the outer clothes are removed and "discarded" until the decontamination is finished. Volunteers are also asked to bring few personal belongings.
This drill is a culmination of several months of planning and involvement from hundreds of people. "It's phenomenal; we will learn a ton about where our weaknesses are, because we've never done a drill like this (as large) as this before," Staples said. "It's really cool that SCSU can be involved."
TO GET INVOLVED...
Students, employees and members of the community who are willing to be "victims" may contact Lissa Staples, 229-5693 or lmstaples@stcloudstate.edu. Volunteers should arrive Aug. 18 at 10 a.m. for a briefing and free lunch. The drill will begin at 12 p.m. and should be completed by 6 p.m. Transcript volunteer hours will be available for students. Volunteers will need to sign a waiver prior to the start of the drill. Minors should have an adult present.
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