First responders prepare for worst

So the setup goes something like this…
Sweet Baby Ray’s, a new catering business on Master Street in Corbin is hosting a First Responder Appreciation Dinner in remembrance of the tragedy on 9-11-2001. The dinner is free and open to all Knox and Whitley County First Responders and their families. It is held at the Corbin Civic Center and on the menu is pig, roasted the traditional way. Entertainment will be provided by the band “As I Lay Dying.” Over 1,000 people attend.
Everything is a smashing success except for, not too long after it’s over, those that went begin to exhibit all sort of strange medical symptoms – blurred vision, headaches, muscle weakness.
Something is drastically wrong!
Soon hospitals and doctor’s officer around the area are flooded with sick people who attended the event. A public health crisis begins to erupt.
That was the scenario police, fire, medical and disaster preparedness personnel faced Monday during the “Knox-Whitley Public Health Tabletop Exercise” held at the Corbin Center for Technology and Community Activities. In a stab at black comedy, it was morbidly titled “Pig Roast Panic.” About 100 first responders from both counties attended the all-day exercise.
“One of the goals was for these people to sit down and see each other face-to-face. It’s better for these people to meet before disaster happens,” said Debra Brown McNaughten, Preparedness Coordinator for the Whitley County Health Department. She, along with co-host Rita Miracle, hatched the idea for the scenario and kept it secret until the day of the exercise to see how emergency officials from both counties would react, in theory, to the situation.
McNaughten said the tenor of the meeting was generally positive.
“There was a lot of cooperation between all of them,” McNaughten said. “It gave them a chance to see how other agencies fit into their plans. For the most part, they have good plans. This was an opportunity to find a loophole in plans that needed fixed.”
As the scenario unfolds, it becomes evident that the owner of Sweet Baby Ray’s has intentionally poisoned first responders that attended the dinner with botulism. Built in is a tricky situation for many emergency management agencies – a 45 percent reduction in normal staffing because many workers are affected by the disease.
“I think it was a scenario that was different than something everyone usually deals with,” McNaughten said.
During the roundtable discussion, McNaughten and Miracle, acting as moderators, asked questions of emergency officials from Corbin, Williamsburg, Barbourville and both counties.
Joe Bradshaw, Director of Emergency Management in Knox County, pointed to the CTA explosion in 2003 as an example of how fouled up, in some areas, emergency response can become in a time of crises. He said too much erroneous information was being given to media sources and community members regarding the situation, causing confusion all around.
“We had too many cowboys making too many statements,” he said. “If you aren’t putting out good, solid information; people will believe anything they hear. It was a major screw up.”
He suggested coming up with a more unified system of disseminating information about emergency situations to avoid confusion.
He also pointed to the fact that during large catastrophes, many times emergency officials may have to take on jobs outside of their area of specialty for a time.
“We all have our plans … but let us remember, when the crap actually hits the fan, we all may have to separate out of our roles. Firemen may have to drive an ambulance, or police officers may have to drive an ambulance.”
Corbin Fire Department Battalion Chief Barry McDonald said the lesson of CTA was that too many people wanted to be in charge. An amalgam of different agencies going in different directions caused confusion and hindered efficient handling of the situation.
“You don’t need 40 different agencies saying you can’t do this and you can’t do that,” he said.
McNaughten said the scenario for the tabletop exercise Monday was selected because botulism cannot always be quickly identified as the cause of many medical symptoms. She said the CTA explosion, while a totally different circumstance, does provide good opportunity for reflection.
“I don’t wand to second-guess any of those people who were there at the time,” she said. “I feel like as a result of that, though, a lot of these agencies handle things a lot different. We’ve got some really bright people in our communities that are equipped to handle these situations.”
Before the exercise got underway, a tribute was held for all first responders at the meeting that included a video.
McNaughten said an actual mock training exercise would be held later this year.