Adams County first responders, industry representatives, state and local partners will hold a hazardous materials drill on June 10 in the Hettinger area. The event marks a return to in-person preparedness exercises for the county after a difficult 2020 pandemic halted much of the in-person training.
Once the drill is completed, the agencies will gather to self-assess their response and to receive feedback from observers and program coordinators from Heartland Consulting Group of Bismarck.
The event will include classroom training and a full-scale exercise including responding vehicles with sirens, lights, hazmat suits and more. Residents are notified and cautioned that the training exercise session is only a drill to further develop response times, practical application and to instruct first responders in the event that a real-world scenario occurred, and should not raise any concern.
Taking part in the exercise will be representatives of various local and state agencies, and will be sponsored by a grant received from the US Department of Homeland Security, issued by the ND Department of Emergency Services.
"Residents of Adams County should be very proud of their first responders for the participation and dedication to training and planning at these levels," Derek Hanson, with Heartland Consulting, said. "The many hours of training and dedication will prove to be valuable during this exercise response and for real events in the future."
ADVERTISEMENT
Following the training evolution new regulations are expected to be implemented to exercise best practices for all agencies for the handling of hazardous material spills and contaminations. Whether accidents on the roadways to bio-chemical spills and more, area HazMat teams and emergency services will leave the training knowing how to approach incidents based on quantity and what types of materials they are dealing with. Ultimately, the new regulations and standard operating procedures will aid responders in quickly identifying and controlling a hazardous material incident.
