Disaster drill takes over Palm Springs International Airport
The Palm Springs International Airport transformed into the scene of a simulated plane crash Wednesday for a Full Scale Emergency Exercise.
The drill included multiple agencies. They responded in real-time. Crews first knocked down flames to secure the scene. Next, they made access to passengers in the most danger, those inside the airplane, and then had to triage all victims, who in this case were volunteers.
“We’re anywhere on the airport within three minutes with our fire trucks. We’ve got the command post, firefighting operations and medical triage and transportation and safety officers,” said Blake Goetz, Interim Fire Chief for the Palm Springs Fire Department. “It’s designed to test our fire and medical response capabilities on the airport.”
The Federal Aviation Administration requires the airport conduct an exercise of this kind every three years to prepare first responders for an air disaster.
The drill first responders to work together to save as many lives as possible, if the simulated crash became reality.
“The victims did a fabulous job of playing the part and putting the stresses on the firefighters, being able to triage them and effectively rescue them from the airplane,” said Goetz.
Airport officials said practice makes perfect the best all hands on deck can do is that.
“We tell the public this is a safe and efficient airport, we mean it. We have the firefighting capability, we have the police capability to provide the immediate response to any incident,” said Goetz.
