Emergency test involves 350 people
A variety of fire departments and rescue organizations participated Saturday in an exercise involving the simulated crash landing of a passenger plane.
Kendra Dalke of Lakeside and her daughter act as victims of a simulated plane crash on Saturday at Glacier Park International Airport.
The pilot of a regional jetliner with 70 passengers and about 15,000 pounds of fuel on board is reporting smoke in the cockpit.
Minutes later, an air traffic controller confirms the plane has crash landed. Some people are dead. Some are injured. The southwest corner of Glacier Park International Airport is engulfed in flames and covered in debris.
About 350 emergency responders, volunteers and members of aid organizations from all corners of Flathead County reacted to this scenario Saturday as part of a four-hour exercise aimed at testing responses to a mass casualty incident.
Tthere were no real victims, only about 50 volunteers scattered in an around a bus, which acted as the fuselage of the downed aircraft. There were flames, but only on several debris piles located a safe distance away from the volunteer victims.
The goal of the four-hour exercise was to expose shortfalls in communication systems and emergency response plans and test the county's new mass casualty and mass fatality plans.
"It went really well," said Flathead County Office of Emergency Services Deputy Director Cindy Mullaney. "We've identified some issues we need to work on."
The tarmac of Glacier Park International Airport was covered with dozens of ambulances, fire engines and law enforcement vehicles as the exercise got under way at about 9 a.m. Saturday.
After spending time simulating the extinguishing of flames, medical teams swooped in and transported "survivors" to North Valley Hospital and Kalispell Regional Medical Center, both of which were also taking part in the exercise.
At the end of the day, organizers briefly discussed the results. There were some shortcomings, Mullaney said, but that was expected.
On Thursday, a group of evaluators and county officials will meet to discuss the results of the exercise in depth. Eventually, an "after action report" will be made followed by an improvement plan.
"It was amazing," Mullaney said. "The time that people put into it and the planning that it took to make ... it a success, it's a testament to the people in this county and their willingness to support emergency services."
The exercise also helped build relationships between dozens of fire, police, medical and aid officials, she said.
"They always tell us the scene of a (real) incident in not the place to exchange business cards," Mullaney said.