This week Milam County is holding what is called a “Tabletop” emergency management drill. This is where the principal players in emergency management at the county, community and state level work together to go through the steps we face when handling an emergency.
These tabletop drills are based on historical emergencies and are held in a controlled environment so that the participants can go through their procedures and work on their coordination. Drills like these help hone everyone’s skills and provide the necessary experience needed to create an efficient and effective emergency response.
We plan to conduct these drills on a regular basis, preferably monthly, and then to hold at least one or possibly two mass casualty drills later this year. Mass casualty drills are live action drills held in a location out in the community. In the past, there have been drills involving school bus crashes, large fires, chemical spills and weather-related incidents. Each drill will be different and rarely does an actual accident completely mimic the real-life emergencies, but these drills allow us the opportunity to work together and prepare for whatever eventual emergency we will face.
While in the Navy, we did an emergency drill each flight and they were priceless in helping us prepare when the real thing happened. In our Milam County drills, we will include all our first responders as well as others who participate; schools, nursing homes, medical facilities, home health, utilities, funeral homes, state and federal agencies, as well many other businesses and activities that play an important role in the emergency management process.
County government is like any other form of government in that their primary focus should be the safety and security of the public. And that priority should be met through infrastructure, first response and practical application. None of those are possible without the prudent and knowledgeable application of the procedures necessary to execute an effective response, and that is not possible without the practice we will receive conducting these drills.
No one ever wants to be caught in an emergency response situation, but it is imperative that we are prepared. Be it an isolated local incident or a natural disaster, we must be prepared. The truth is that in a natural disaster, we must first be prepared to stand on our own and handle things locally for the first 72 hours before state or federal aid arrives. This is the norm for most incidents such as tornadoes or ice storms and we will work to make sure that should the need arise, we are as prepared as we can be to handle these sorts of emergencies.
For updates on our progress, tune into our radio program at 9 a.m. or check out the official Milam County Courthouse Facebook page.
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