LEPC to stage mock disaster drill in Linton on Thursday

It will all be a mock drill to better prepare school, police, fire and ambulance service personnel in the event a real disaster strikes.

The Greene County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) is planning a table-top drill starting noon on that date.

The 90-minute exercise will take place on the east side of the school along Fourth Street, according to Greene County Emergency Management Agency Director Roger Age.

Axe would not reveal the exact details of the drill, but said the exercise would simulate what could happen on a typical south central Indiana day in August 2010 with the temperature about 94 degrees.

Weather-permitting, an Air-Evac medical helicopter will make a landing in the front school parking lot about 1 p.m. to simulate an evacuation of victims from this mock drill, Axe pointed out.

"It will be a table-top, but there may be some simulated radio traffic that people will hear," Axe said. "The reason were are having Air-Evac in is if something would happen we want the (school) kids used to a helicopter coming in."

The EMA director said similar drills have been staged in other areas of the county using different disaster scenarios. Linton was picked for this exercise because of the size of the school and the community.

"This is the biggest school in the county and they (Linton-Stockton School District) have their evacuation plan done pretty well, but it does need some practice. They need to realize that when they are depending on something, the resource may not be there," he stated.

Axe said these kind of drills are good refreshers and go a long way to keep everyone involved from the school officials to the first responders aware of the proper protocols and procedures.