Assembly Hall stages disaster drill

Local agencies responded to gunshots, hostages and hazardous chemicals at Assembly Hall on Wednesday – all for a disaster drill.

The Monroe County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) organized a simulated crisis for the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), a Hazardous Material (Hazmat) squad, the Red Cross and 13 other local agencies.

The script depicted a 9-1-1 call reporting that three men had entered Assembly Hall and sprayed basketball camp attendees with a highly toxic pesticide. One victim was shot.

A local CIRT team moved to a door on the North side of Assembly Hall, which leads to a corridor where the perpetrators took victims hostage.

Once the situation diffused, the Hazmat team took victims out of Assembly Hall to a decontamination tent. In this inflatable tent, victim’s clothes would be cut off  – yellow jump suits for simulation purposes – and then the victims decontaminated.

“This is how we would respond to a real situation,” IU Police Department Cpt. Jerry Minger said.

Victims included 31 volunteers with a card clipped to them listing their injuries and how they needed to be treated.

Maria Carrasquillo, Monroe County Red Cross Director of Emergency Services, managed Wednesday’s scenario, helping both would-have-been victims to the hospital and officials stay hydrated. Carrasquillo also mentioned an online Web site, safeandwell.org, for helping people get in touch with their families when disaster occurs.

The simulation went smoothly, officials said.

Members of respected agencies operated from a command center relatively distant from the crisis area.

“One of our big objectives is communication between agencies,” LEPC coordinator Dennis Williamson said.