October 25, 2003

Airport MCI Drill

(As written by Anthony Farmer, Poughkeepsie Journal)
A car was in flames, a nearby van was turned over and the roof of a small pickup truck was smashed in, as the first fire truck rolled onto the scene at the Dutchess County Airport Saturday morning.  Not far away, three small planes stood at the end of a runway. One had come in too low on its approach to land at the airport and clipped the three vehicles before slamming into the other two planes waiting their turn to take off.  The fire was out after several minutes and then the real work began -- tending to the victims.  If this had been a real accident, there would have been 18 injured to deal with, not including four that never made it out of the burning car and died. But it wasn't real, it was a drill to help emergency workers prepare for such a disaster.  ''It's practice,'' said Rocco Dimase, first assistant chief with the New Hackensack Fire District. ''When an actual incident does occur, we know what to do and there's a protocol to follow.''  The so-called ''mass casualty incident'' is required every three years for recertification of the airport by the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency required 15 to 20 victims be involved for the airport to be re-certified. The victims were taken by ambulance to Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie.

Timing critical

Getting victims to a hospital within an hour is key in such incidents. Participants in Saturday's exercise accomplished that feat pretty much within 45 minutes.  At least 25 New Hackensack members took part in the drill and more than 50 volunteers were involved.  Firefighters, emergency medical technicians and police moved swiftly but purposefully as they arrived at the scene and went about their work.  The ''victims'' were volunteers who -- with the aid of fake blood and makeup and a bit of screaming and moaning thrown in -- gave a sense of reality to the exercise.  As Dutchess County Airport firefighters worked to knock down the flames, a victim who escaped the blaze kept trying to get back to the car to save his charred friends who didn't make it out.  Eventually, a Dutchess County sheriff's deputy arrived on the scene to help keep the man away and bring him to safety.  Officials said it's common for victims to become delirious when surviving such a horrific incident.  Earlier Saturday morning, Joseph Pedro III sat in the fire house, with what appeared to be a huge, bloody gash on the top of his head, preparing for the drill. A Beacon firefighter and EMT, Pedro said he volunteered to be a victim.  Asked if he would be cooperative with his rescuers, Pedro flashed a sly smile.  ''I've been on the other end,'' he said. ''I might not be.''  John Mouris, line service supervisor at the airport, said overall, the drill went very smoothly.  ''There's shortcomings in certain areas,'' Mouris said. ''But that's why you do this.''

Preparation Time!  The victims are prepared.  In another room, the Fire Police get their instructions.

Car on Fire after being hit by plane.  Plane comes to a halt after colliding with 2 planes on the taxiway.

Airport 92-11 arrives on the scene and begins to extinguish car fire.

New Hackensack arrives on the scene and begins stabilization and extrication process

Tanker 52-31 and LaGrange 47-32 arrive to begin water supply operations.  Incident Command Post established.

Stabilization of van is performed and teams begin extricating victims from van.