Drill shows strengths

Officials had trouble staying in touch with one another via radio.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County officials liked most of what they saw in a test Tuesday of their ability to handle a large-scale emergency.
But they didn't like what they couldn't hear.
Some 150 emergency and safety personnel participated in a mock disaster Tuesday morning at the Youngstown waste treatment plant. The scenario involved a major chlorine leak and explosion.
The idea was for officials to gauge how they'd perform if it had been an actual emergency, said James Dorman, Boardman fire chief.
It was also to see where there are soft spots in the county's ability to handle such a disaster.
Main problem
The main weakness, according to Dorman and Walter Duzzny, director of the county emergency management agency, was communication.
"When you are working with four or five different entities, but you only have one or two radio frequencies on your radio, you just can't communicate that well," said Dorman.
To compensate, he ended up with a slew of portable radios to keep in touch with some of the departments that participated. Dorman, chairman of the local emergency planning committee, spent some six months planning the event and creating its scenarios. Duzzny said officials must find a way for all emergency personnel in the county to be on one radio frequency.
Dorman and Duzzny liked the way emergency personnel and local hospitals reacted to the constantly changing, impromptu scenarios into which they were placed.
"They looked, they saw, they made decisions," Duzzny said. "And they were making those decisions in spontaneous situations."
He said that shows local responders are well-trained to handle such situations. The four-hour drill was part of local officials' push to prepare for events involving weapons of mass destruction.
Preparedness council
Along with that, county commissioners have formed the Citizens Corps Preparedness Council, which was to be unveiled today.
The council is made up of representatives from local government, law enforcement, first responders and established volunteer groups.
Corps members will volunteer their services in specific areas of response and support in the event of an actual emergency, Duzzny said.
bjackson@vindy.com