3/25/2008

A simulated plane crash at Lovell Field had emergency responders busy this morning.  It was all part of a required full-scale exercise for the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority.  In the exercise scenario, a plane carrying roughly 150 passengers crashed a short distance from the runway shortly after take-off.  A bus and a smoke machine were used to simulate the main crash site, but part of the wreckage, along with a couple of victims, were also located about one hundred yards away in South Chickamauga Creek. 

EMT and paramedic students from Chattanooga State volunteered to serve as mock victims.  After ensuring that the simulated fire was out, firefighters and paramedics with Hamilton County EMS set up a triage area to sort out the victims for treatment and transport. 

The exercise involved fire and police personnel from the airport, along with the Chattanooga Fire Department, Chattanooga Police Department, Hamilton County Emergency Services and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue.

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