AGENCIES TESTED IN MOCK DRILL

PERRYVILLE -- Two paramedics arrive at Perryville Municipal Airport responding to a call of a sick pilot in need of medical assistance. What they find is a full-blown aviation disaster.

Thankfully, it didn't actually happen, but that scenario was the basis of a large-scale disaster response drill Tuesday night involving more than 50 rescue personnel from 11 different agencies.

David Streiler, assistant director of Perry County Ambulance Service, coordinated the training exercise. The drill was intended to determine how the county's emergency personnel would respond in the event of a commercial airline crash.

"This is just to see what kind of problems we could encounter," Streiler said. "We need to find the problems now and correct them before we have an actual emergency."

Participating in the exercise were personnel from the Perryville, Beihle and East Perry County fire departments; Chester (Ill.) Hospital; Perry County Hospital; Perry County Ambulance Service, Medstar Ambulance of Chester; and the Perry County Sheriff's Department. Rescue helicopters from LifeBeat Air Ambulance and Air Evac in Cape Girardeau plus another from St. Louis also took part in the exercise.

To add an extra dose of realism, 25 high school students taking an occupation health class at the Perryville Career Center volunteered to play the role of victims.

Sheila Koenig, who teaches the class, said the drill was a learning experience for the students as well as the emergency responders. Most of the students intend to pursue medical careers fields.

"I hope they see what a true emergency is like and, by being victims, see what it is like to be patients," Koenig said.

The "victims" were dressed as to give the appearance of injuries. One of the prime goals of the drill was to test responders on their ability to judge the severity of injuries and prioritize care.

Streiler said this exercise posed a number of problems participants haven't faced during other preparedness drills, including coping with no lighting and the need to keep victims warm.

"This is the first drill we've had at night and in colder weather," he said. "Usually in the past we've had drills under more optimal conditions. That is not really a test of the kind of problems you can have."

Participants in the exercise will review video of the drill and critique their actions.

"If we can find one mistake and improve before an emergency happens, it is worth it," Streiler said.