Emergency!

Erwin, Tenn.—Emergency services in Unicoi, Greene and Carter counties spent today training and preparing for disaster situations that could happen in their communities.
    The Erwin Fire Department, with help from the Johnson City Haz-Mat team and others, worked on a simulated chemical spill on the CSX Railroad.
    The drill offered an opportunity for neighboring response teams to work together as they would in real emergencies.
    The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) gives advice as the situation progresses.
    “This is probably very typical having a small county, who doesn’t have the resources,“ says TEMA liason Mark Hollomon, “then we bring in resources from other counties, from other agencies, to support, augment, to help out the local resources in order to make an entry into a hazardous material situation.“
    The counties are being trained, but also evaluated.
    Emergency responders from other areas serve as observers to note what was done well in today’s drill, and what needs to be improved upon in future training.

Click on the icon above for more.