East Oregonian October 19, 2001

Depot drill allows emergency personnel to display readiness

By HEIDI SODERSTROM

HERMISTON. If terrorists attacked the Umatilla Chemical Depot, security and staff at the depot know what to do. They practiced Wednesday.

A simulated attack sent two depot civilian gate guards "pretending to be wounded" to Good Shepherd Medical Center. Hermiston Fire and Emergency Services provided the transportation. Other personnel were transported by ambulance from the depot clinic to Kadlec Hospital in Richland.

The simulation helped the depot test its emergency procedures in a combined security and mass casualty exercise. The depot is mandated to hold four such drills a year. Wednesday's was in addition to the required four, said Depot Outreach Office spokesperson Jim Hackett, an option exercised by the depot commander. "It tests our readiness capabilities and gives us practice in responding to events that could happen in reality," Hackett said.

This week's drill involved an intruder scenario at the depot with a response by the depot's crisis management team. "It was very organized," said Jeff Armstrong of the Hermiston Fire and Emergency Services as his ambulance sped toward Good Shepherd with two victims inside. "Everybody had a job to do and they did it."

"It's not really scary," said Ron Patterson of Umatilla, who was tightly strapped onto a gurney in the ambulance. "It's actually really good to be involved and see the professionalism involved on both sides."
Patterson's "injuries" were from an explosion. He and co-worker Glenn Bloom of Hermiston, who was "ran over as the terrorists came in the gate," joked on the way to the hospital about the loss of body parts they supposedly sustained in the mock invasion.

In a real emergency, depot emergency workers would have ridden along to assist with medical needs, said Carry Munro of Hermiston Fire and Emergency Services. The two guards also would have been stripped of their clothing before leaving the base.

Finishing out the scenario, the "victims" were rushed into Good Shepherd's emergency room and assessed. "This is just like ER, only we don't have as many props," said Dr. Thomas Farney as he and Dr. Ken Franzren walked through what steps they would take to stabilize both "patients."

"We appreciate the cooperative efforts of the local area hospitals in supporting our emergency preparedness exercise," said Lt. Col. Fred Pellissier, depot commander. "We have used their support in the past, and it has aided in improving our emergency response capabilities."
Also as part of the exercise, workers at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (incinerator area) were evacuated to a predesignated assembly point. Sirens were sounded at the depot but no sirens were activated off the base.

Officials in the depot emergency operations center advised county and state emergency operations centers of each step in the emergency management effort. Exercise planners will evaluate the lessons learned from Wednesday's exercise and use them to improve future responses, Hackett said.

"It,s too early to tell if it was successful, but there's always going to be lessons learned," he said. "There's no perfect exercise. I think overall it went well, but each time it's a different scenario and it may be challenging aspects you haven't encountered yet."