Large-scale training exercise to occur this weekend

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

During his five-plus years as the Henry County Emergency Management Director, Walt Jackson has organized many training exercises for county law enforcement agencies, fire departments and rescue teams.

But some of those would pale in comparison to what Jackson is planning for this Friday and Saturday (March 24-25).

Actually, Jackson will be having two similar, but yet different, training sessions on the two days. Friday?s exercise will be a simulated drill with most of the activity occurring at the emergency management building on West Washington Street.

State and county law enforcement and correctional facility personnel will be involved in apprehending an escapee from the Mt. Pleasant Correctional Facility.

?We plan to have the Iowa State Patrol, Division of Criminal Investigation, Mt. Pleasant Police Department, Henry County Sheriff?s Office, New London Police Department and possibly the Wayland Police Department formulate a plan and begin the search for an escaped prisoner,? Jackson said.

Some officials with Iowa Task Force 1, based in Cedar Rapids, are also expected to be on hand.

To make the exercise as genuine as possible, Jackson said calls will still be coming in to dispatch and may stretch some departments a little thin. ?We will have things coming in, such as accidents because real things still happen when you have emergencies.?

The event begins at 10 a.m. and will run until about 2 p.m.

Also during the hunt for the escapee, a negotiations team will be organized.

?It will be an intense exercise. I hope we learn some things from it, like communication and managing personnel,? Jackson remarked. He said he expects 30 to 35 people to participate in the daytime drill.

On Friday night, a search-and-rescue mission at Oakland Mills is scheduled for county fire departments with aid from Iowa Task Force 1.

?It will be more or less a scavenger-type hunt in the woods at Oakland Mills,? Jackson began. ?Firefighters will have to find items in the woods and pinpoint them on a map.?

Jackson said there might be some fire trucks and rescue units rumbling through Mt. Pleasant on Friday night and local residents should not be alarmed.

The Friday night drill is set for 6-9 p.m.

Action will remain in the Oakland Mills woods Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. with a ?low angle rescue scenario,? according to Jackson. The scenario involves teenagers who had gone camping the night before and have gone missing. The fire departments will have to find the teens with the equipment that they bring.

During the drill, Iowa Task Force 1 personnel will be on hand to offer critiques and options to the various fire departments. After receiving the critique, the fire departments will move to another area, using the tips they gained from the task force.

Jackson said most every fire department in the county will be participating and he expects about 100-150 people involved in the drill.

The larger fire departments (Mt. Pleasant and New London) will go solo on the search-and-rescue exercise. The smaller county departments will be combined. Jackson said Wayland and Olds would work together as will Salem and Hillsboro, and Winfield and Mt. Union.

Also participating will be meteorologists from the National Weather Service to offer weather updates.

Saturday?s activities will run from 9 a.m. until about 3 p.m.

All told, Jackson said he expects close to 200 participants over the two days.

He said he and county law enforcement and fire department personnel have been planning the exercise for nearly a year.

?It has come together fairly well,? the emergency management director said. ?As with anything, we had some bumps. However, for the most part, everybody has been respectful and cooperative. The state has been fabulous. It has been a true community event with all the emergency services coming together.?

The day and night exercises for the fire departments will be especially beneficial, Jackson commented. ?These are tools they can use if a person walks away from a nursing home or a camper is lost. We wanted to do one at night and one during the daytime because it is a different world at night. We just don?t want to be scrambling if these events actually do happen.?

While he hopes personnel gain some knowledge during the drills, he said his mission is three-fold. ?I want people to learn something, have fun and arrive home safely.?