Disaster training prepares Onslow County Emergency Services for any situation

The Onslow County Emergency Services Department holds week-long, full-scale disaster ready training exercises on an annual basis to better prepare employees and emergency personnel for the hazardous situations that are a potential for this area.

This year's exercises, held in May, were simulated responses to a Category 4 hurricane hitting the county. More than 400 people took part in the exercises.

"Generally in this area, because hurricanes are so prevalent, we gear our exercises toward that," said Norman Bryson, assistant director of emergency services.

In the past, exercises have covered scenarios from a tsunami hitting the area to a large terrorist attack.

"Different types of events can bring on different responses and different types of actions," Bryson said. "They still require us to take steps as far as standing up and being prepared for an emergency."

Flooding, loss of power, sewer, and water, and the closing of roads were some of the main problems addressed during the training.

Local fire departments were involved in a water supply drill where loss of city water was simulated and they were required to draft water from the Marietta Rock Quarry and be able to sustain a flow of 250 gallons of water per minute.

A partial collapse of the hospital was among the simulated events, allowing it to test support and emergency functions and to make sure it can operate with newly injured persons arriving as well as be able to care for those injured in the collapse.

"The hospital itself must be sure that it's still able to function," Bryson said.

An electronic predictability program that factors in when buildings were built and the constructions requirements for that time and using overall averages and odds can calculate how a building might fare during certain weather conditions, Bryson said.

The program estimates that area medical facilities would operate at 30 percent capacity for about 15 days if hit by a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, Bryson said.

Area fire departments also participated in a water rescue exercise where the premise was that several residents had been washed down river. Medical attention was given to victims while they were in the water before being rescued.

"We want to train above and beyond what our day-to-day call volume is, to make sure our skills are better when that type of event does occur," Bryson said. "We don't have water rescue every day; we don't have large hazardous materials every day."

The damage assessment team also underwent training during the hurricane exercise. Members are responsible for visiting residences in the aftermath of a disaster and assessing damage values.

During previous hurricanes they used paper. The paper allowed team members to input seven addresses per page and at one point there were over 300 pages of damage assessments to be calculated.

Now the team takes laptops with them to the field and inputs information into spreadsheets allowing for automatic and immediate calculations which can speed up the time it takes to receive money from the state for disaster relief, Bryson said.

"The end goal is for us to practice and for us to provide better service to our citizens when they need it," Bryson said.

The main purpose behind these exercises is to refresh employee's minds, test new equipment, and make sure that older equipment is functioning properly before a disaster strikes, Bryson said.

"What we have learned from (the exercises) is ... you have to keep your equipment up to date, ready to use and maintained at all times. You can't buy anything and let it sit on a shelf and expect it to work at the time of a disaster," he said.