Gregg County, TX (East Texas News) – The East Texas Regional Airport conducted a large-scale emergency drill this morning, though it was only a drill. These drills are mandated by the FAA every three years for all commercially certified airports.
Roy Miller, the director of the East Texas Regional Airport, said emergency responders from across Gregg County gathered at the airport to take part in the drill.
“Today we will simulate an aviation accident. We will deploy our fire trucks. We will call in mutual aid organizations and transport people to the hospital, and then we will recover from that event,” Miller said.
After a brief briefing, volunteer victims were taken to the scene of a plane with landing gear problems that collided with another aircraft.
“We will respond with our firefighting apparatus and medical personnel to extinguish the blaze and save people,” Miller said.
However, Miller noted that turnout was reduced due to COVID.
“This year we’re not doing the moulage makeup. We’re simply tagging that the individual might have a broken leg or arm,” Miller said.
But there are still more than a dozen “victims” like John Dawson, who works for the TSA.
“Definitely, I suppose it’s good to stay up to date on safety protocols and know how to respond in a serious situation like that,” Dawson said.
Christus EMS regional manager Brian Wilkinson says patients are triaged by color and then moved to color-coded tarps.
“Black means the deceased. Red means critically ill patients with an immediate threat to life. Then comes yellow, which is critical but not as severe as red, and finally green, which is typically a walking wounded patient,” Wilkinson said.
Organizers say the drill is designed to help the response feel more natural because:
“You never know. I mean, with airplanes and things like that, you never know what’s going to happen,” Wilkinson said.
Miller, the regional airport director, says the FAA requires an emergency exercise on paper every year, but the third year must be conducted in person in accordance with FAA and TSA regulations.
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