Video: First Responders Prepare for Disaster

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COLUMBUS, Miss.  (WCBI) — Early Thursday morning, emergency officials from all over gathered at Mississippi University for Women for their annual full scale incident drill.

The simulation put first responders in a life like situation involving a car and train accident with hazardous materials and mass casualties.

One emergency response coordinator says the goal of these drills is to prepare responders in the event of a real world disaster.

“When we do exercises, we want to know what we can do better”, says Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency Director Cindy Lawrence, “…what we made a mistake on and if there’s a real world incident, we’ll know what to do when there’s a real world incident…”

The situation allows for law enforcement, fire and rescue, and other teams to improve their communication in high pressure situations to ensure the best possible response.

First responders also know that they must be prepared for a full scale incident at any time.

“It can happen everyday, and any given time…”, says Columbus Public Information Officer Raymond Hackler, “…you can have a mass casualty accident just because a trail derailed, you know, one minor little incident can actually just unfold as something pretty major.”

One emergency management coordinator told WCBI that they hope the drill is able to show the public what their tax dollars are going towards.

Students and staff from M.U.W. assisted the first responders by portraying victims and bystanders.

The drill also gave emergency response teams the chance to test their ability to alert the public as well as preparing shelters and evacuation plans.