Putting Their Skills to the Test
We hope and pray that tragedies don’t strike the Gulf Coast. Isn’t it great to know our first responders are prepared in the case of any emergency?
Emergency workers from Jackson, Harrison and Stone counties were on the scene of a simulated train derailment. The catastrophic scene was created at the MSU Extension Center on Popp’s Ferry Road in Biloxi. While this derailment was just a training exercise, firefighters, police, EMTs and other emergency responders’ skills were put to the test.
“Knowing the contacts, knowing that we’ve got to think outside of the box sometimes because we don’t practice these situations to the magnitude of in real life, we’ve got to make sure our responders are trained up in case this should ever happen,” said Rupert Lacy, director of Harrison County Emergency Management Agency. Director of Jackson County Emergency Services Earl Etheridge said, “It’s better to have a training exercise like this and work the bugs out than have to do it at 2 o’clock in the morning when you’ve got a real incident in downtown Biloxi or downtown Ocean Springs or where ever it may be here on the Coast.”
The exercise also presented a great opportunity to test each counties communication skills which is key in any emergency situation.
Emergency workers from Jackson, Harrison and Stone counties were on the scene of a simulated train derailment. The catastrophic scene was created at the MSU Extension Center on Popp’s Ferry Road in Biloxi. While this derailment was just a training exercise, firefighters, police, EMTs and other emergency responders’ skills were put to the test.
“Knowing the contacts, knowing that we’ve got to think outside of the box sometimes because we don’t practice these situations to the magnitude of in real life, we’ve got to make sure our responders are trained up in case this should ever happen,” said Rupert Lacy, director of Harrison County Emergency Management Agency. Director of Jackson County Emergency Services Earl Etheridge said, “It’s better to have a training exercise like this and work the bugs out than have to do it at 2 o’clock in the morning when you’ve got a real incident in downtown Biloxi or downtown Ocean Springs or where ever it may be here on the Coast.”
The exercise also presented a great opportunity to test each counties communication skills which is key in any emergency situation.
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