DELAWARE – Delaware County first responders are holding their full-scale hazardous materials drill in five years Monday morning.
Dozens of “players” from local fire, emergency medical and law enforcement agencies will respond to a call involving a fictional spill of a deadly hazardous material at the eastern end of Home Road in Lewis Center.
It is the first in-person preparedness exercises for the county since 2016.
“The Covid-19 pandemic had forced us all to put a hold on in-person drills,” said Sean Miller, director of the Delaware County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which is coordinating the drill.
An Emergency Operations Center located at the agency’s Delaware headquarters will also be staffed and the two groups of participants will communicate with each other during the drill.
“The players won’t know until that morning when they get the call to respond what they’re dealing with. And then, throughout the span of the roughly two-hour exercise, the drill ‘controllers” will continue to inject additional information into the scenario that really tests them on their response skills,” Miller said.