County mock disaster drill to test emergency response

BUCKSPORT – Emergency crews from all over Hancock County and beyond will gather in Bucksport on Saturday for a mock disaster drill on the town’s waterfront.

The Homeland Security exercise will give local, county, state and federal agencies an opportunity to practice emergency response plans, some of which have been developed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

Since Sept. 11, the federal government has provided funding to prepare states for emergencies both natural and manmade, according to Ralph Pinkham, director of the county’s Emergency Management Agency.

“Along with the funds came the mandate to train people in using that equipment the funds were buying and to exercise our ability to actually respond to an emergency,” Pinkham said.

The mock drill involves an explosion near the Sprague Dock facility on the Bucksport waterfront that may or may not involve chemical or biological materials, according to Bucksport Fire Chief Craig Bowden, whose department is hosting the drill.

“The initial response will be by the Bucksport fire, ambulance and police,” Bowden said. “But there will be between 20 and 30 agencies involved during the day.”

The county’s Rapid Response Team for HazMat, comprised of firefighters, police officers and EMTs from around the county, will be involved, as will the National Guard’s Civil Support Team for HazMat and the state police and state police bomb squad.

The drill will involve all elements of a disaster ranging from on-site decontamination measures, triage and treatment of “victims” to clean-up and bomb search exercises.

The county’s three hospitals will be testing their resources at the same time, and a bus load of victims will be transported to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth as part of a test at that facility, Bowden said.

Also, the U.S. Coast Guard, working with students from Maine Maritime Academy, will conduct a marine platform search on a ship that will be moored in the harbor as part of the drill, he said.

In addition to government agencies, several volunteer agencies will be involved in the drill, which has been in the planning stages for about a year.

The American Red Cross will test its ability to feed, water and support a crew estimated to reach more than 100 responders, and the regional emergency communication network of ham radio operators also will be involved, according to Pinkham.

Although Saturday’s scenario is based on a suspected terrorist act, Pinkham said the drill will help emergency responders to prepare for any kind of disaster.

“Even though this is a Homeland Security exercise to deal with a terrorist attack, it’s also preparing us to deal with any kind of disaster,” he said. “A lot of what we’re testing in this scenario lends itself to the kinds of things we’ll see in any emergency or disaster. By doing this drill, all the first responders in Hancock County will be better prepared to deal with a naturally occurring disaster.”

After the drill is completed, participants will conduct a “hot wash,” or a preliminary evaluation, of what went right and what didn’t, Pinkham said. There also will be a more formal “after action report” done to evaluate the exercise.

The exercise is expected to run from 8 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Most of the activity will be confined to the Sprague Dock area and should have little impact on Main Street traffic or on Bucksport residents.