Photo By Sgt. 1st Class David Bruce | Medics and firefighters from the Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center Fire...... read more read more
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CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind. — The skies over Camp Atterbury often echo with the sounds of aircraft. UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-role fighters, are often flying on any given day. While statistically speaking, a car crash is more likely to occur than an aviation accident, how would Camp Atterbury respond to a helicopter crash?
Soldiers and civilian employees at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center participated in an exercise to test the preparedness of their pre-accident plan in the event of an aviation accident, Feb. 15. This was the second exercise in an ongoing revision and evaluation of the existing pre-accident plan.
The scenario involved a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter making a hard landing in one of the training areas on post. The response to this incident involved several directorates on Camp Atterbury as they were called to the test.
The “crash” was first reported to the post military police station, which set in motion a chain of events; the fire department, range control, which has oversight over the training areas on Camp Atterbury, airfield operations, the post safety office, public affairs, chaplaincy and environmental office were all notified. In an incident of this nature, all these directorates have a role to play.
Perhaps the most visible role is the first responders. The station chief becomes the overall incident commander, said Staff Sgt. Anthony Bruce, station chief at the Camp Atterbury Fire Department.
“Our responsibility is to respond to that downed aircraft. Once we get on scene, my role as incident commander is to do a scene size-up while my truck crew establishes their operation area,” said Bruce.
Communications is one key element of responding to an accident like this; keeping all the players informed of developments at the crash site.
“The more you’re on the same page, the more you’re tracking what everybody is doing, the better it’s going to go. I’m talking to range control, my dispatch and the airfield trying to get as much information about the aircraft as possible and calling in outside resources,” said Bruce.
One of the primary functions of the firefighters is rescue operations. It is up to them to approach the downed aircraft, shut down the engines and start evacuating the personnel onboard. The protective equipment the firefighters wear and the cramped spaces inside the aircraft complicate the task.
As the firefighters extract the pilots and crewmembers from the helicopter, the medics begin treating and assessing the medical conditions of the patients and mode of evacuation; either ground ambulance or by medevac.
“We have these standard operating procedures as far as the crash alarm. That’s why we train, to understand what everybody’s role is,” said Bruce. “Coming together and actually seeing it helps tremendously.”
While the firefighters and medics perform rescue operations, the post military police cordon off the accident site to keep bystanders and spectators at a safe distance. The Camp Atterbury range control receives information about the situation on the ground and advances the medevac requests to the appropriate agency, in the case of this exercise, to the airfield for an air ambulance. The post public affairs office is notified to handle any news and media requests and to issue advisories. Once the site is deemed safe, the post environmental office is charged with clean-up operations at the crash site due to leaked fuel and other hazardous materials.
Once the exercise was concluded the participants gathered for an after action review. This review process analyzes the event and identifies what works, what needs improvement and new ideas and procedures to incorporate into the plan.
Chief Warrant Officer Richard Clark, aviation safety officer at Camp Atterbury, orchestrated the drill. According to Clark, airfield operations create the pre-accident plan and it falls to the aviation safety officer to test the plan and recommend improvements.
“This is a requirement of every airfield in the Army,” said Clark. “We are visiting, by committee all the directorates involved on how they think they can change and make better their part of the pre-accident plan,” said Clark.
“Every time we do this, we’ll get better and better, so we’re working as a well-oiled machine. So, god help us, if this ever does happen, there is no hesitation. We’ll know exactly how to do it and get out there and help those people who need to be helped,” said Clark.
Clark plans to run the exercise four times per year, gradually expanding the scope of the operation in duration, location and incorporating outside agencies to a more realistic scenario.
“Our job is to be ready if and when this is going to happen. We have to continue re-evaluating this plan and we have to continue training,” said Clark.
| Date Taken: | 02.15.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.17.2011 16:43 |
| Story ID: | 65613 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 156 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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