The idea that what happened in February in eastern Palestine could happen in a picturesque city like Madeira may seem incomprehensible to some people – but not to Nick Crossley. “A lot of times people have a hard time imagining this happening in their community, right?” Crossley said. As director of the Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency, it’s Crossley’s job to plan for potential disasters, like the derailment in eastern Palestine that sent toxic chemicals skyward. when a Norfolk Southern train skidded off the tracks. “Due to the size and complexity of Hamilton County and the amount of traffic, rail and road we have, we need to be prepared,” Crossley said. That’s why emergency experts and first responders spent time Thursday playing the part of the second phase of an alleged disaster in Madeira, a small town northeast of Cincinnati.” We are actually continuing an exercise that we started last year involving a derailment train in downtown Madeira that releases hazardous materials and results in a fire and explosion and extensive damage to the downtown core,” said local emergency planning committee coordinator Doug Witsken. “Now we recover it 12 hours after the start of the incident. The fires are extinguished and we are specifically focused on finding victims and treating and transporting them to hospital.” Ensuring that local medical professionals are ready in the event of an event strikes in the event of an disaster are an important part of the planning process.”We have a great history of working together,” Tiffany Mattingly said.She hopes tabletop exercises like the one that took place on Thursday will give the people of Hamilton Co. the reassurance that in the event of a major disaster, the response will be quick and coordinated to have that planning behind the scenes,” Mattingly said. Crossley said his agency needs to do three hazmat training exercises — tabletop, functional and on a large scale – over a four-year period, as required by law.But Crossley said far more training is taking place in Hamilton County each year than is necessary.
The idea that what happened in February in eastern Palestine could happen in a picturesque city like Madeira may seem incomprehensible to some people – but not to Nick Crossley.
“A lot of times people have a hard time imagining this happening in their community, right?” said Crossley.
As director of the Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency, Crossley is responsible for planning for potential disasters, such as the derailment in eastern Palestine that sent toxic chemicals skyward when a Norfolk Southern train skidded off the tracks.
“Due to the size and complexity of Hamilton County and the amount of traffic, rail and road we have, we need to be prepared,” Crossley said.
That’s why emergency experts and first responders spent time Thursday playing a role in the second phase of an alleged disaster in Madeira, a small town northeast of Cincinnati.
“We are actually continuing an exercise that we started last year regarding a train derailment in downtown Madeira which released hazardous materials and resulted in a fire and explosion and major damage to downtown,” said said Doug Witsken, coordinator of the local emergency planning committee. “Now we are picking him up 12 hours after the incident started. The fires are extinguished and we are focusing specifically on finding the victims and treating them and transporting them to hospital.”
Ensuring that local health professionals are prepared in the event of a disaster is an important part of the planning process.
“We have a great collaboration history,” said Tiffany Mattingly.
Mattingly is the Vice President of Clinical Strategies with the Health Collaborative. She hopes tabletop drills like the one that happened on Thursday will give residents of Hamilton Co. confidence that in the event of a major disaster, the response will be quick and coordinated.
“Just to be reassured to know that there are organizations and there are structures in place to have this planning behind the scenes,” Mattingly said.
Crossley said his agency was required to do three hazmat training exercises — tabletop, functional, and full-scale — over a four-year period, by law. But Crossley said a lot more training is happening each year in Hamilton County than necessary.