AMBULANCE CREWS ANSWER MOCK CRASH

JACKSON -- The call from emergency dispatch went out at just past 9 Wednesday night: A plane containing eight to 10 occupants had crashed near Route D.

Emergency personnel responding to the scene found the medium-sized commuter aircraft actually contained 25 people. Nine were dead on arrival; three had minor walking injuries and the rest were in between.

Also, the whole scenario was fictional.

Cape County Private Ambulance Service held what it dubbed a "mass casualty incident drill" Wednesday night in the Jackson city park. However, at first ambulance personnel did not know it was a drill.

Area law enforcement agencies and fire departments, though, were warned of the exercise ahead of time to avoid disruption of their operations.

"A couple Jackson police officers and the fire chief were here, but just to watch," said Mike Craig, Cape County Ambulance operations supervisor.

John Russell, president of the ambulance service, said, "There were a few long faces" when the first two crews arrived on the scene to find he and Craig instead of a downed aircraft.

The first crews and others, which arrived later, still had to go to work locating markers representing victims. Each "victim" was identified by a card listing physical characteristics such as age and sex and symptoms of injuries. Workers had to determine what kind of treatment each required.

The primary purpose of the drill was to train in methods of dealing with a large number of seriously injured patients in a short period of time and with limited resources.

Every fall for the past four years Cape County Ambulance has held a major surprise drill. This is the first to be held at night.

"Each year we tend to ratchet it up and make it more work and a little more real," Russell said.

He added that immediately following the exercise other area emergency agencies were to be called to determine what assistance in terms of personnel, equipment and supplies they could have contributed had the scenario been real.