Photo by Wayne Bauer Ridgway Ambulance EMTs are shown transporting one of the crash victims into the Elk Regional Health Center’s decontamination area during Monday’s disaster drill.

By Amy Cherry

Staff Writer

    Local emergency service agencies tested their skills on Monday evening as part of Elk Regional Health Center’s annual mock disaster training drill.

ERHC worked in conjunction with the Elk County Department of Emergency Services and Agosti Fire and Safety Services Inc. in planning and implementing the drill.

    Heading up the efforts at ERHC was Tom Kerchinski, director of facilities and disaster preparedness official. He is also an assistant fire chief with the Crystal Fire Department.

    Planning for the drill began in March with monthly meetings between agency representatives. Kerchinski also teamed up with Mike Bauer, both Elk County Hazmat team leaders, to do additional planning preparation for the drill.

    This year’s drill scenario involved a commercial airliner crash with 22 victims including a three-member flight crew.

    The scenario, prepared by Agosti Fire and Safety Services Inc., detailed the course of events during the drill which included a 911 call reporting engine problems with the airliner which was en route from Bradford to Cleveland.

    “It has to be a mass casualty event for the drill. This usually involves some type of mass transit or a building with a large capacity crowd,” Kerchinski said.

    Previous scenarios have included an active shooter staged at the St. Marys Area Middle School, an anthrax scare staged at Dutch Country Stadium, a gas tanker versus school bus accident staged in the Municipal Parking lot on Erie Avenue and most recently a terrorist event staged at the hospital.

    Participants were de-briefed following the drill which took place at the St. Marys Municipal Airport from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Hospital personnel discussed the event with Agosti Fire personnel while a second de-briefing was conducted by Elk County fire chiefs for all emergency responders, such as fire, law enforcement, EMS and Hazmat volunteers.

    “It was a good learning experience. All of the agencies worked well together. We’re very blessed to have this cooperation in our area, because there are some counties that don’t have these resources,” Kerchinski said. “We will be seeing a lot more of these types of exercises.”

    The Elk County Hazmat team initiated the mock drill events in 1991. In 1998, Elk Regional began conducting them as part of state mandated requirements.

    “The event would not have been able to come to fruition without all of the participants,” said Mike Bauer, Elk County Hazmat team leader.

    Kerchinski noted each year a multiple-hospital, multiple-county event also takes place through the Region 3 Taskforce, an all hazards taskforce covering northwest central Pennsylvania. He added there a total of 13 regional taskforces throughout the state.

    Among this year’s drill participants were fire departments and ambulance services from St. Marys, Ridgway, Johnsonburg, Fox Township and Wilcox along with the City of St. Marys Police Department, Elk County 911 Center, Elk County Emergency Management, Elkland Search and Rescue, Elk County Hazmat, Mountaineer Search and Rescue and the Cameron County Incident Response Team, the only out-of-county agency to participate.