Local emergency response agencies tested their reactions to a mock disaster.

Local emergency response agencies tested their reactions to a mock disaster.
By Travis Reed
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
SALEM -- Michael Korte was nervous as he waited in line just inside a set of doors leading to the gymnasium at Salem High School.
The 16-year-old watched others walk up long construction paper pathways to registration tables, where orange rubber gloves belonging to men in white paper jumpsuits moved a small wand over outstretched arms and legs.
The men were checking for radiation exposure. Korte and the others in line knew one of them would test "positive."
Finally, Korte did.
"Radiation" on his hand sent him back to decontamination chambers in locker room showers nearby three times. Finally he was allowed to pass through, past makeshift signs, yellow caution tape and emergency workers and into a common area with the other victims determined healthy enough to keep community.
This time, it was only a test. But it seemed real enough to many participating.
"It's pretty scary if you actually were exposed," Korte said.
Part of event
Tuesday was the second day of evacuation and emergency management drills for possible accidents at the Shippingport Nuclear Power Plant in Beaver County, Pa. The Red Cross, Salem Fire Department and Salem Area Amateur Radio Association all practiced their cooperative efforts in the mock disaster.
Local Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls volunteered to be victims for the drill. If they keep working with the Red Cross, they could earn emergency preparedness badges for their efforts.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on hand to evaluate the drill. They'll issue grades for the participants Friday, but until then, their lips are sealed on how the groups are reacting.
A serious accident at Shippingport would demand evacuation for those within a 10-mile radius of the plant. Salem High School is one of six care centers where displaced victims could end up.
The Red Cross does not publish the planned locations of the other care centers to avoid crowding certain centers in the event of an actual emergency. Instead, officials would establish several smaller processing centers in high-traffic areas and direct victims to the care centers that could accept new patients.
Tuning in to help
That's where the amateur radio association comes in. Dave Sprouse, a radio operator, said officials in an emergency often rely on ham radio operators because phone lines and regular CB bands buckle under intense use.
Such volunteers were helpful in New York after Sept. 11, he said, because several antennas were knocked out in the attacks.
Sprouse said he doesn't anticipate ever having to execute the response for real, but it's necessary to keep everyone in practice. Ginger Grilli, director of the North Columbiana County American Red Cross, wasn't taking anything for granted.
Grilli scurried about the gym checking on registration stations, anxiously hearing reports and barking instructions.
The Red Cross provides food, a place to sleep, and medical assistance at the care centers. If there were an actual accident, Grilli said there's no telling how long the center would need to stay open.
Even in pretend, the business of keeping huge crowds of people reasonably comfortable is fraught with handfuls of minute challenges.
It was almost 11 a.m. Thursday, and the workers were trying to fix lunch for the victims. There was punch, but there was nothing to make it in, and there were no cups to drink it from. They'd have to work something else out.
Meanwhile, the victims, all having passed their radiation tests, were waiting in the cafeteria, playing cards and watching "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on a cart-bound television.
They were happy it was only a run-through, but it made them uncomfortable in more ways than one.
"It was weird," said Brandon Floor, 12, a Boy Scout from Troop 6 in Salem. "You wondered if you were going to be contaminated. And you get tired holding your arms out."