Editor’s note: This article is by Domenic Poli, of the Brattleboro Reformer, in which it was first published Dec. 9, 2014.
WESTMINSTER — On Thursday, 15 people were ushered into Bellows Falls Union High School’s Holland Gymnasium, where they navigated themselves through a taped-off maze to either one two terminals that could detect if they were contaminated with harmful radiation.
Those deemed unsafe to others were sent to be decontaminated, while the rest registered themselves with the regional Red Cross, found a safe shelter if needed and decided whether to leave a message for a loved one. After the ordeal, they were thanked for volunteering their time.
The scenario was a merely an exercise drill conducted by Westminster, the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and dozens of volunteers to test the capabilities of local and state responders to open and operate a reception center at BFUHS. The reception center would serve as a decontamination and registration location if a radiological event were to occur at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon.
Fifteen “actors” portrayed people evacuated to the high school following a fictional terrorist attack involving a small mobile force and several suicide bombers damaged VY’s reactor building and the spent fuel pool, causing a small radiological release.
The volunteer actors were put through the stations evacuees would experience during nearly any type of emergency.
Glenn Herrin, the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) planner and training coordinator for the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security’s Radiological Emergency Response Program, told all volunteers and professionals to replicate an emergency situation as closely as possible for the benefit of everyone.
“Evacuations happen and a reception center is something a state needs. So this plan is what the state will use. If anything happens in White River Junction or Brattleboro or something like that, guess what, they’re probably going to call down and say, ‘Hey, Russ,'” he said, referring to Westminster Town Manager Russ Hodgkins, “‘I know it’s not a radiological emergency, but can you open your reception center?’ So what you’re doing here is very important and I thank you on behalf of the state, and on behalf of me and my family, thank you for being here tonight, because it really is important.”
Herrin told the media the reception center at BFUHS would be expected to hold roughly 4,000 people, or 20 percent of the EPZ — which is a 10-mile radius around VY. FEMA evaluated the exercise to identify strengths and weaknesses, and a final report will be prepared within 90 days with any recommendations on how to improve operations for future exercises or actual events. Vermont Yankee is expected to stop operations this month, conditions at the plant still mandate continued emergency planning in the surrounding area, according to state officials.
Other agencies involved in the exercise included Westminster Volunteer Fire and Rescue, the Vermont Agency of Human Resources, Vermont Department of Health, the Red Cross of Vermont and New Hampshire and the Windham County Sheriff’s Department. Nearly 140 individuals participated in the drill.
The atmosphere Thursday evening was noticeably cool, calm and collected, with anyone expressing confusion getting gently coached on what to do. George Sykes, who identified himself as a regional and individual community preparedness coordinator for the Red Cross, told the Reformer these exercises are enormously helpful for volunteers and staff members. He said the drills are a great way to work out any kinks in an emergency plan.
The actors, who were briefed on their scenario backgrounds and circumstances, and began the exercise by entering the Holland Gymnasium, where they were tested for “decontamination.” Four people were pegged as being contaminated and sent to receive a simulated decontamination. Anyone deemed safe was sent into the high school’s auditorium, where they were separated by gender, for registration. They then went to the next room for a station called “congregate care coordination,” where they were informed of where to find safe shelter during the emergency.
“They’re coming to us, having already been decontaminated,” said White River Junction resident and Red Cross volunteer Linda Nordman. “People are coming to us because they need a shelter, they need some kind of service, they need food, or they need a ride.”
Those in charge of congregate care coordination would have a list of safe havens evacuees could utilize. The list included the high schools in Randolph, Woodstock and Rutland, the Vermont Fire Academy in Pittsford, and Vermont Technical College. People are then encouraged to visit the reunification station.
Marsha Haines, a staff member of the Vermont & the New Hampshire Upper Valley American Red Cross, explained evacuees would have 14 message options to send to a family member or friend they can’t find in the mayhem.
“They come from congregate care, over there they’ll be assigned a shelter if they need one,” she said. “If they need one or if they do not need one and they’d like to leave a message for a family member or friend, they can come here and we register them on the Red Cross Safe & Well site and they can leave a message.”
After the exercise was finished, Hodgkins — who spent much of the drill in the “command center” — thanked a collection of volunteers and staffers for their time and dedication. Herrin mentioned the exercise identified some problems with the registration stage that need to be addressed. He also said Thursday provided a great learning lesson.
