Denver / Centennial Emergency Drill on 4-20

Via an email received, as I live in the area:
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EMERGENCY SERVICE DRILL - Tomorrow (April 20, 2011)
If you are not already aware, there are scheduled disaster recovery simulations going on tomorrow in the Denver area. Please see below.

On April, 20, 2011, there will be an emergency services drill at Centennial Airport that will test the ability of the airport to handle a huge incident in another city that will send many patients to hospitals in the Denver metro area.

The exercise will be a full equipment set-up at Signature Flight Support and will include the reception, treatment and transportation of simulated patients. The patients will physically be transported via air and ground to fifteen NDMS supporting hospitals in the North Central Region from Denver to Loveland CO.

There will be numerous large helicopters, ambulances and other transportation modes in use, all creating a huge amount of noise and possible traffic disruptions around the airport and highways.
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Posting this both as an FYI for folks in the Denver area, that wonder what is going on tomorrow (Wednesday), and curious about the timing. Denver does not often have drills, and I can't recall any drill that was in preparation of a large number of casualties coming into the city. As Denver is a convenient distance from Nevada, it brings the recent earthquake swarms to mind. Is there someone in the know? Are they preparing just in case, specifically for such an event? Or is this just a preplanned event that cooincidently is occuring just now.

Per this link:

Airport, agencies team for full-scale disaster drill

They say this is in light of the disaster in Japan, and wanting national readiness. That was dated the 15th. Seems pretty short notice all around (only received the email today, 1 day prior to the event).

Any thoughts?

I guess they are preparing for the worst case scenario... A disaster occurs and everyone happens to be stoned off their @sses

Good thread though. I'll be sure to tell all my friends and family in CO that this is going on so they don't freak out.

I've never heard of a large-scale drill like this... I don't mean to say that it never happens, but is anyone aware of other similar drills?

Seems like a great way to cover up a real, planned disaster without generating a lot of attention/scrutiny from the general public.

edit: Looks like Chicago had a similar drill last year (with simulated plane crash, meth lab raid, and various terrorist attacks): archive.chicagobreakingnews.com...

edit2: And New York, too: www.reuters.com...

Not entirely off topic.....I live in Louisiana, and last night I got an automated phone call from The Emergency Broadcast system type thing It said "this is a test of the emergency center for this Parish....blah blah blah....just like what you hear on TV or radio, except it said in case of a disaster or emergency, I would recieve a phone call???? I have NEVER heard of this.....anyone?? Why are all these plans for disaster suddenly popping up? Has anyone else gotten one of these calls?

This is what your tax dollars have been going for (among many other things).
After 9/11 there was a huge amount of money to be made in beefing up security systems, process and services. Today just about every county in the country and many metropolitan areas have an active emergency notification and response plan - to comply with DHS mandate and capitalize on some progressive funding in these areas.

ganjoa

Well, Denver did have one exercise around an amusement park awhile back... right around the time of the H1N1 outbreak. And another where helicopters were doing a lot of flying around downtown Denver, right around the time when people were talking about control of local populations.

But this is the first drill I can recall of this scale ever in the Denver area - to prepare for large #'s of casualties coming from other cities. It could honestly be nothing but as they say, preparation in view of the disasterin Japan. But still.. odd timing what-with the swarms in Nevada.

on another thread it was stated a couple times, minnesota and texas, that they were testing emergency sirens at unscheduled times. Could be very insignificant, or could be another piece of the "puzzle".

Reverse emergency call alerts... I find that very interesting. Lots of emergency drills across the US this month. Makes you wonder...

reply to post by fleabit


first I have heard of it. Thank you. Checking it out further now...

ColoradoJens

Originally posted by tinker9917
on another thread it was stated a couple times, minnesota and texas, that they were testing emergency sirens at unscheduled times. Could be very insignificant, or could be another piece of the "puzzle".

Reverse emergency call alerts... I find that very interesting. Lots of emergency drills across the US this month. Makes you wonder...

Civil alert sirens are tested every 1st Wednesday of the month at 1PM in Minnesota, and then they have subsequent ones dedicated only for Severe Weather emergencies...typically in spring.

That day when the sirens went off at the odd time, I searched on weather.com and they showed Test Tornado Warning in effect for the entire state.

reply to post by potaco


I've taken part in such drills on a yearly basis since Adam was a baby, lol. Emergency preparedlness has been around forever, but they are always trying to ratchet it up a bit in order to better coordinate communication among emerg services. All the best to everyone.

At 1 am in Monument they had a spill of some kind!!!!!
www.newsfirst5.com...

reply to post by StealthyKat


That's the relatively new "Reverse 911" system. They do call everyone in a given area in the event of, oh, let's say a school shooting for example or a burst dam. That kind of thing.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by Playto76


It is all chemistry, now they just need to fly a helicopter over it and start dumping a solution on it, to make the acid safe so it wont burn through anything.

I wouldn't be to worried about it if you hear helicopters flying around and you see them dumping stuff.

Evacing would be recommended because you don't know exactly where the stuff is, they will likely give an all clear to go back home when all is said and done.

reply to post by StealthyKat


Yes Gangora is correct. Counties throughout the country.
We have had it here for the last year and a half. (or so) I think its great. The system that we have will contact me about weather or any other emergency in the area. Although this winter I thought it was a little redundent when I received calls from the school and police dept. when our little town was shut down from a snow storm this past winter. But all in all it made me feel better knowing that everyone had the same information. Ya know how rumors can get started!!!!
We live 50 miles northwest of Chicago.
And just to add. They just didn't call me once, they kept us posted as to what main roads had opened up and what roads would stay closed. I think we got 4 or maybe 5 call. They asked us to stay off roads so crews could clean.