Practice Scenarios Prepare Emergency Response Teams

Practice Scenarios Prepare Emergency Response Teams


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Jill Atwood ReportingLocal emergency response teams got a pretty realistic gauge on their strengths and weaknesses in a mock scenario funded by Homeland Security.

The damage is significant. The first cops on the scene report the train's windows are shattered, the driver is dead, and inside passengers are panicked.

Outside, first responders talk, coordinate, and wait as bomb technicians make sure there are no other explosives.

Dwayne Baird, Salt Lake City Police Dept.: "You are not going to send people into harm's way who are rescuers until they clear the scene and make sure that there isn't a secondary device going off or there isn't some sort of other activity that would endanger those that would respond."

Back inside the train, an eery quiet. Finally paramedics and firefighters are given the all clear.

Those in charge today say the likelihood of an attack like this is low. Still, training and preparation is a must.

Dennis McKone, Salt Lake City Fire Dept.: "I think everything's going really smooth. We will discuss that at the debriefing. Discuss where are weak areas may have been and yes we are going to work on them closer because we are at a time period in our life where this is becoming more and more critical and we're working more and more together."

Twenty agencies from all over the valley participated in today's drill which was conducted for the benefit of extra training.

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