Simulated plane crash preps response teams, EMT students

The voices crackled from police scanners shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday: “Fire is out, start doing triage. There are several that are not responding. We need medical right now.”

Mock plane crash victims staggered across a field off Jubilee Road, yelling for friends or holding limbs covered in fake blood. Fire personnel pulled two silver-suited dummies from wreckage in South Chickamauga Creek as a machine emitted gusts of gray-white smoke.

Meanwhile, evaluators stood by, watching emergency response teams react to the simulated plane crash near the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport.

Mike Landguth, airport authority president and chief executive officer, said the full-scale simulation, required every three years by the Federal Aviation Administration, prepares response teams for a worst-case scenario. It also tests communication among various agencies, he said.

“Essentially, what it allows the personnel to do is actually implement our emergency plan and all the training that we’ve gone through (over) the years to make sure we can respond in case there’s an actual accident” at the airport, he said.

Timing the response with the actual takeoff of an Allegiant Air flight, the Chattanooga Fire Department, Chattanooga Police Department, airport police, Hamilton County EMS and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue Squad all responded to the scene. They found that a large plane smashed through a fence during takeoff, scattering debris, a large piece of the fuselage — represented by a school bus — and 146 passengers.

Administrators and evaluators reviewed the response Tuesday afternoon and will discuss better operating procedures and improvements next week, Mr. Landguth said.

After the initial response stage, personnel went into the recovery phase, getting airport operations back online and practicing how to accomodate family members and loved ones of passengers.

Fire department spokesman Bruce Garner said the simulation helps law enforcement personnel check the mutual radio frequency all area agencies use.

“It allows us a chance to test our response capabilities and the way we interact with fire and police and EMS,” he said.

Twenty-eight EMT and paramedic students from Chattanooga State Technical Community College served as victims. Adam Wright, in his first year of training, sat under a red triage flag labeled “Immediate” with a fake eyeball hanging on his cheek.

“Watching them work helps us see what we need to do to be better patient-care providers,” he said.

Ellen Geeslin, Chattanooga State EMT IV instructor and coordinator, said the exercise showed her students the other side of emergency response.

“They learn what it feels like to be a patient, because usually they’re in responder mode,” she said.

BY THE NUMBERS

* 146 — Crash victims in simulation

* 28 — Actual mock “victims”

* 30 to 45 — Minutes spent applying makeup to each crash victim

* 20 — Children on board

* 4 — Children sitting on parents’ laps

* 1 — Dog on board

* 1 — Pregnant woman in labor after crash

Note: The simulation depicted a crash and 146 victims. Twenty eight people portrayed some of those victims.

Source: Emergency response personnel, Chattanooga State students