Bomb drill aims to prepare A2

A high school in Washtenaw County will be blasted by a massive explosion of hazardous materials around 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Surprisingly, there will not be any prior telephone calls to warn the Ann Arbor Police Department, the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department, fire department or ambulances. Nor will there be 911 calls or alarms surrounding this catastrophic event. International anti-terrorist teams will not respond. No one will actually be rescued.

The reason is that all of the typical crisis handlers are already involved. In fact, they already know about it and helped plan it.

Huron Valley Ambulance and six Ann Arbor hospitals are all set to stage a mock bombing of a fictional Washtenaw County high school. They will pretend to engage in a realistic hazardous material exercise at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in York Township, which is located about 12 miles south of Ann Arbor.

The paramedic supervisor and coordinator, Jeff Lehmann, said the purpose of the exercise is to train health care providers and school personnel about how to respond if such a scenario were to happen.

Lehmann said he hopes the simulation will give responders a visual tool to train their staffs.

"We chose this scenario because school administrators and teachers are concerned about these incidents. They want to be prepared," he said.

The York Woods Center will serve as the high school for this hazard-filled drama. Seven hospitals, including the University's and one fake hospital, will treat the "victims" from the explosion, which will be represented by clouds of smoke and other distractions.

Sam Jessie, a University Hospitals spokesperson, perceives the hospital's role as learning how to better address such an event should it occur in the future. "I think it is always good to prepare no matter what your field," she said.

Ann Arbor Fire Chief George Markus does not minimize the probability an event like this could happen in Ann Arbor. He said he has seen many unusual things in his more than 20 years in the fire service that he believes any scenario can happen or has happened somewhere in the fire service community.

Markus emphasized that for employees who must respond to emergencies like bombings, the training could be successful.

"Anytime you run a training drill, whatever your job is, whether it's an EMS worker, fire fighter or police officer, if you run the drill correctly and if you are careful about the scenario, you can have very effective training value," he said.

Cindy Matthews of the West Metro Fire Department, located near Littleton, Co., the site of the Columbine High School shooting last spring, said the training in Washtenaw County is a good way to prepare for real situations.

"I think trainings and drills and things like that are set up to give an opportunity to practice what you hope will never happen," Matthews said.

Matthews said her fire department responded to the initial diversionary bomb in the April 20 assault at Columbine High School. That day, two students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, killed 12 fellow students and one teacher before taking their own lives, making it the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.

Matthews applauded Washtenaw County for having the foresight to prepare for a similar incident. "It's a solution," she said.

The mock bomb will be ignited around 2:30 p.m. tomorrow. High school personnel throughout the area are encouraged to observe the event. Some high school students will videotape the scenario.

10-11-99