Residents near the HVL pool experienced blocked roads and the alarming presence of fire trucks, ambulances, and hazmat vehicles on the morning of Saturday, July 22. All the activity was part of a coordinated full-scale exercise (FSE) that simulated an accident involving a chlorine tanker truck. Over 70 professionals from 14 organizations in SE Indiana and the greater Cincinnati area participated in the event which was the culmination of years of planning, policy development, partner interactions, and response training.
Jason Sullivan, Director of the Dearborn County Emergency Management team described the FSE exercise as “… the most complex type of exercise. FSEs are multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional, multi-organizational exercises that validate many facets of preparedness. They focus on implementing and analyzing the plans, policies, procedures, and cooperative agreements developed in discussion-based exercises and honed in previous, smaller, operations-based exercises. In FSEs, the reality of operations in multiple functional areas presents complex and realistic problems that require critical thinking, rapid problem solving, and effective responses by trained personnel. During FSEs, events are projected through a scripted exercise scenario with built-in flexibility to allow updates to drive activity. FSEs are conducted in real time, creating a stressful, time-constrained environment that closely mirrors real events.”
HVL Lead Deputy, Dave Wismann, has been involved throughout the planning and training activities since the onset and coordinated with our board and property manager to make the pool site available for this exercise. This type of training ensures that our security force is ready to deal with potentially deadly hazardous spills that could impact resident health and potential environmental issues.
If you witness an accident or spill of potentially hazardous material, call County Dispatch – 812-537-3431
Agencies that participated in this key training event include:
- Dearborn County LEPC (Local Emergency Preparedness Committee)
- Dearborn County EMA
- Ripley County EMA
Bright Fire & EMS - Dearborn County 911
- Dearborn County RACES
- Dearborn County Health Dept.
- Indiana Department of Homeland Security
- Greater Cincinnati Hazmat
- Greendale EMS
- Hidden Valley Lake POA
- Dearborn County Coroner’s Office
- Dearborn County Water Rescue
- Hidden Valley Lake Deputies
Dave Wismann and Linda Hartmann