Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Alex Cabrero ReportingLots of police sirens were blaring in Cache County this afternoon for a disaster drill that involved police, fire crews and EMT's.
This drill was about as real as it gets, especially after what happened at Virginia Tech. This scenario involved gunmen shooting at students at Utah State University. It's the type of practice emergency crews need.
There's no way to ever be fully prepared for the real thing, but Cache County is sure trying. At the Spectrum Arena on Utah State's Campus, four men shot several students and set off a bomb. Thankfully, it was all just a drill. But watching it still gave those in attendance the chills.
Rick Cooper, with Cache County HAZMAT, said, "It's been very realistic."
Crews wanted this exercise to look as real as possible, because we've seen situations like this that are very real, and these crews would rather be ready.
Logan police chief Russ Roper said, "To be prepared for an event like this. How could you ever prepare too much?"
The drill had everything from real looking wounds, to police guns ready, HAZMAT decontamination, even bad guys saying crazy things. This drill was all about how to get better.
Sgt. Paul Todd, with the SWAT Team, said, "Communications is the biggest failing factor in any incident such as this. We learn from our mistakes and pray that it never does happen."
Most of the emergency agencies in Cache County took part in this drill. They're going over what worked, what didn't and how to improve, just in case.
