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Exercise tests interoperability

More than 60 emergency response and law enforcement personnel responded to a simulated bus vs mini-van accident staged by Tusayan Fire Department last week.

"Everything went really, really well for a bunch of agencies joining together and trying to be cohesive," said Tusayan Fire Chief Robbie Evans. "We all worked well together and we were able to establish command right at the get-go."

Participating agencies included the Department of Public Safety, National Park Service, Forest Service, Coconino County Sheriff's and Emergency Management offices, Xanterra Fire and Safety and Guardian Ambulance. More than 20 volunteers showed up on Tuesday, May 15, to fill in as live casualties. Along with diagnosing and treating them, emergency responders also practiced extricating victims in the mini van. The Quality Inn fed the group when they were done.

The main issue they identified was communication, especially when identifying who was who.

"One suggestion is that because we all come from different agencies and because of the transient nature, that we all wear some kind of name tags on the back of the helmets," Evans said. "In an incident, we all go by names."

With staffing, distance and time constraints, officials are able to get together for live exercises about every two years.

Evans said that in between they meet for less-intensive table top exercises as they will in the coming months to work out some of the bugs identified in this exercise.

A bus accident like that in the simulation isn't only possible; it's happened at least twice in the Williams area over the past few years. The possibility of a big plane crashing at or near the airport is also a concern.

"When we have an accident with five our six people, it can overwhelm our (TFD's) resources," Evans said. "If one of those big aircraft goes down at the airport, we better be ready to rock."


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