THE COUNTIES, Ontario – Dozens of local municipal officials combined with emergency services and members of the Canadian Armed Forces Friday for a training exercise to respond to a major mass-casualty incident in our region.
The fictitious incident presumed the disintegration of a massive cargo airliner over the City of Cornwall, raining fiery debris and tens of thousands of litres of jet fuel over an area that included both urban and rural locales.
More than 120 emergency managers, elected officials, senior staff, police, fire, EMS, public works and health care representatives met at the South Stormont Township Hall to plot strategies and response to fires in western Cornwall, polluted drinking water systems and mass casualties, to name a few.
The day-long event dovetailed with a large in-person training exercise, known as Trillium Venture, being completed by the Canadian army at the Long Sault Parkway on the weekend.
Friday’s event was separate from the Canadian Armed Forces event that will see hundreds of soldiers and dozens of vehicles on the parkway Saturday and Sunday.
Local officials from Cornwall, SDG Counties and its local municipalities welcomed Friday’s opportunity to exercise linkages that saw the triaging of patients, the evacuation of residents and escalating responses with senior levels of government.
This included incorporating responses from public works departments, human services and even finance staff as officials implemented a layered response to what would have gone down as one of the worst disasters in local history.
Fortunately, the event never took place - but the lessons learned were worth their weight in gold.
“There’s no doubt that an event of this scale would quickly overwhelm the local capabilities of individual municipalities in our region, which is why we have reciprocal agreements in place to provide a coordinated response across multiple jurisdictions,” said SDG Counties Warden Martin Lang. “Today we practiced communicating with each other, supporting a response that saves as many lives as possible and learning about how all levels of government function during a disaster.”
Officials learned how to make requests of agencies like the armed forces to effect rescue operations and how those services are implemented.
Officials likewise made decisions that consolidated decision-making and communications to a central operations centre that combined the expertise of EMS folks, search and rescue personnel and municipal staff.
"The importance of these joint exercises cannot be understated, especially in ensuring our preparedness in the event of a real disaster," said Cornwall Mayor Justin Towndale. "Today was an opportunity to learn what our constraints are, and how we can work alongside other governments and agencies to respond in a structured and timely manner in order to ensure the safety of our communities.”