BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Local, state, and federal agencies held a training at the Kern County Fairgrounds Friday to prepare to tackle a radioactive blast.
- Local agencies like Bakersfield Fire and Kern County Fire took part in a large-scale interagency training that was set up to exhibit a 'radioactive bomb' exploding at the fairgrounds, where crews went through the process of determining where debris landed and how it could affect certain areas. Bakersfield Fire Public Information Officer Alexander Clark said while the focus of the exercise appeared narrowly tailored, it provided a good look at how California's mutual aid system works as well as practical training for other scenarios.
- CAL-OES Assistant Chief Chuck Tobias noted that training for various emergencies takes place all throughout California and one of the many things that he hopes emergency personnel take away from this is relationships with other organizations. Tobias said the hope is that incorporating various people together during training will provide a smoother transition for crews in the event of a real disaster.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Kern County Fairgrounds is home to the Budweiser pavilion and usually livestock and fried foods, I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter, however, on Friday it was home to an interagency radioactive bomb simulation.
"The real intent is to try to put together a real-world scenario they can envision," said Rob Wickens, Chief Technology Officer for Hazmat Resource.
Emergency personnel went through a briefing and then geared up to check various zones throughout the fairgrounds for radioactivity. while it may sound scary, organizers say they hope this never happens but if it does, they want to ensure they have their bases covered.
"Not only how they're going to go [identify] that it's a radiation event, set up a Hot Zone, address the whole event, go in and identify, but also deal with the local people who are going to make decisions," said Wickens.
Chuck Tobias, the assistant chief for the Governor's office of emergency services said the one thing he hopes that people take away from this training is relationships with others in various agencies, so in the event of an emergency, there's already a rapport.
"The luxury of having these exercises is that it brings all these agencies together, so they have some actual face-to-face time. There's a lot of recognition that occurs. And so when a real event does happen in any jurisdiction, a lot of times they're going to see the same individuals that they just previously worked with at an exercise. So it kind of makes it a little bit easier for them to mold into the overall mission."
Local agencies like the City of Bakersfield, Bakersfield Fire, Kern Country Fire, and many more were in attendance alongside state agencies like the 95th Civil Support Team, and federal agencies like the FBI.
While the event was focused on a radiological event, Bakersfield Fire Public information Officer Alexander Clark said the techniques used throughout Friday could help them in other instances.
"Everything that we learn here we can incorporate into other events too. So things that we learn from a hazmat event like today we can use in a wild land event or a mass casualty event," said Clark. "They are still a lot of the same principles that we use daily to help protect the public."
Tobias also noted that there are several trainings throughout the state for various emergencies in various locales, just like this one.
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