Posted on 09/21/2004 7:24:51 PM PDT by lost in the snow
Mock attack will test terrorism response Monday, September 20, 2004 By Lynn Moore CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER Terrorists will strike a busload of students in the Whitehall area on Tuesday, killing more than a half-dozen and sending dozens more to hospitals.
It's not a crystal ball that allows such a disaster to be foreseen. It's all in the plans -- disaster preparedness plans, that is.
The disaster won't be real, but it will look real, and the participants -- including students, emergency room personnel and firefighters -- will act as if it's real.
The exercise, one that is becoming familiar in the post 9/11 era, is part of attempts by emergency responders and Muskegon County school districts to prepare for the worst.
The exercise, which will involve the aftermath of a supposed explosion on a school bus at 9:30 a.m. at Durham and Holton-Whitehall roads in Whitehall Township, is being funded by homeland security grants awarded to several area school districts and Muskegon County.
Local school district transportation directors instigated the exercise because they wanted to test their abilities to respond to emergencies, said Tom Spoelman, transportation consultant for the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District. They eventually hooked up with Muskegon County Emergency Services, and planning for the event has been under way for about a year, Spoelman said.
The exercise will test not only school transportation directors, but also the Muskegon County Emergency Operations Plan, which involves many agencies throughout the county.
About 60 middle and high school students from Reeths-Puffer and Whitehall public schools will be part of the exercise, according to Kristin Tank, public information coordinator for the MAISD. Local law enforcement agencies, fire departments, human service agencies, transportation services and medical services will participate.
Students from Muskegon Community College and Reeths-Puffer will assist in applying makeup to add to the reality of the gruesome scene. Between 200 and 300 people will observe the exercise, including school bus drivers, school administrators, emergency personnel and evaluators from agencies across the state who will provide feedback.
The exercise will simulate an attack by a fictitious radical group called Wackos Against Schools and Education who believe everyone should be homeschooled. Under the scenario, a bomb is placed on the bus and is detonated while the bus is traveling on Durham, causing the bus to land on its side and fill with smoke.
The exercise will begin with the bus -- an out-of-service vehicle donated by Ravenna Public Schools -- on its side, having been placed there by Dale's 24 Hour Towing Service, which is donating its time and resources. Fire departments will respond and test their abilities to get at victims inside a mangled bus.
Hackley and Mercy General both will be able to test their new emergency rooms, each of which will get between 15 and 20 "victims." Eight or nine deceased students, represented by mannequins, will be transported to the county morgue, Tank said.
Frantic parents will be part of the staged disaster, flocking to schools and hospital emergency rooms.
The exercise is similar to an event staged a year ago at Heritage Landing that involved a mock chemical disaster, which also was the supposed work of terrorists and tested the county's emergency preparedness.
White Lake Fire Authority Chief Bob Phillips said his department is lucky to be heavily involved in Tuesday's exercise by virtue of the location planners chose.
"The potential exists (for a devastating incident) every day the school buses are on the road," Phillips said. "It's not something that happens a lot, but it's something we need to be trained in.
"That's what we're hoping for is to learn what works and what doesn't work before an incident actually happens."
© 2004 Muskegon Chronicle.
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
I can hardly believe what I just read. That is disgusting! That's a public school teaching tolerance for you.
I beg to differ.
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Top Stories
Mock attack will test terrorism response
Monday, September 20, 2004
By Lynn Moore
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
Terrorists will strike a busload of students in the Whitehall area on Tuesday, killing more than a half-dozen and sending dozens more to hospitals.
It's not a crystal ball that allows such a disaster to be foreseen. It's all in the plans -- disaster preparedness plans, that is.
...etc
Well now I responded to your first post without reading the next, sorry.
This is outrageous. I'm so taken aback that I can't even type an adequate response. What are these jerks thinking?
Just copied onto every Homeschool board I belong to.
that's alright
Good catch, FRiend.
Are you in MI?
See Michelle Malkin's take on this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1223348/posts
This is an absolutely fantatasic find and great first post! Welcome to FR!!
I have a ping list on my other computer...it's booting up!
I am also sending this to my senate candidate...he's going to be speaking to us next Monday.
Has anyone sent this the HSLDA????
Nope, VT
Great catch anyway!
I am in MI and I am appalled.
Contact info:
(734) 997-7090
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Here is the apology posted on the MI homeschool boards....
> > Statement from the MAISD Superintendent
> > Michael H. Bozym, Ph.D.
> >
> > September 21, 2004
> >
> > Contact:
> > Kristin Tank
> > Public Information Coordinator
> > MAISD, (231) 767-7263
> >
> > The Muskegon Area Intermediate School District (MAISD) shared
> > the disappointment of others when we learned the September
> > 21, 2004, emergency preparedness drill referenced home
> > schoolers as the fictitious group responsible for a mock
> > disaster. We apologize. The MAISD and local districts were
> > not aware of the scenario, and it was not shared with
> > students or parents who took part in the exercise.
> >
> > According to Dan Stout, Chief Deputy, Emergency Services of
> > Muskegon County, this scenario was constructed in his office.
> > A sample scenario was required in order to receive the
> > necessary funding to stage the event. The Muskegon Area
> > Intermediate School District and our local schools did not
> > construct the scenario, but participated with other county
> > agencies, hospitals, and emergency responders in conducting
> > the drill.
> >
> > This exercise was meant to sharpen the skills and response
> > time of our emergency services personnel, but was
> > unfortunately clouded by the choice of this fictional group.
> > We believe this exercise had everything to do with testing
> > emergency response time and the protection of our children.
> > It had nothing to do with the home school population.
> >
> > As educators, we believe that the first and most important
> > teacher is the parent, whether in home schools, public
> > schools, or non-public schools. We all work together to
> > ensure a safe and secure environment for our children to live
> > and grow.
> >
> > We sincerely regret offending home school educators. We
> > believe that all parents are educators and do important work
> > at home with their children.
> >
> > # # #
> >
> > Please forward all additional questions and comments to the
> > Public Information Coordinator at the Muskegon Area
> > Intermediate School District at ktank@r... or
> > (231) 767-7263.
> >
> >
That just demonstrates, once again, that leftism is a mental disorder.
My jaw is literally slack. And to add astonishment to astonishment, THAT isn't the focus of the story. It's just a toss-off, as if there's nothing remarkable about it.
What if the fictitious group were Statists Against Free Education, a group dedicated to producing a generation of mindless statelings by wiping out all alternative forms of education, targeting an HS field-trip?
I am literally agog. It's like a bad joke.
Dan
heh... and these folks haven't seen my kids shoot... they understand the concept of a good ambush, cover and concealment, fields of fire... gotta work on the chemistry tho'...
That's right, those nasty, dirty, public school children are expendable.
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