Chattanooga: Postal Service, first-responders to hold emergency response drill Wednesday

Friday, May 17, 2013

photo Trucks are lined up outside the U.S. Post Office on Shallowford Road.

A full-scale emergency exercise, including employee evacuation, will take place Wednesday at the Chattanooga Mail Processing and Distribution Center on Shallowford Road.

The drill is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m. and last about three hours, authorities said in a news release.

Postal Service staff advise members of the public to be aware of this exercise. Lobby services and access to Post Office boxes at the Shallowford Road facility will be interrupted from about 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.

The exercise is being held to evaluate the Postal Service and city's coordinated emergency preparedness response plans in the event of an actual biohazard alert.

The exercise will combine efforts of the Postal Inspection Service, Chattanooga Police and Fire departments and Hazmat/Decon Team, Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency and Office of Emergency Management/Fire Communications, Tennessee State Police, FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, Tennessee Department of Health, American Red Cross of Southeastern Tennessee, Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority and 9-1-1, a news release from the post office states.