GORDON—It was a scene that no one normally wants to see; there were firefighters with fire trucks, ambulance, paramedics, police, doctors, medical students, search and rescue workers and amateur radio emergency service coordinators and others who had been called out to an incident at the Gore Bay-Manitoulin Airport on the evening of November 9. There were even 11 students from Manitoulin Secondary School on hand, the latter group victims of an airplane crash near one of the airport runways.
But no, it was not a real incident, thankfully it was a mock air disaster exercise. “The Gore Bay Mock Air 2016-1” exercise started with a radio call to the Gore Bay-Manitoulin Airport that a Beech 1900 airplane was coming in for fuel. They are good but running low (fuel). They have 14 people on board and will be in Gore Bay in 10 minutes.”
The mock disaster included the plane having undergone a crash landing at the beginning of the runway and the tail broken off the aircraft. “There is some smoke and trapped victims. There is fire in the field around the fuselage, but the aircraft is not on fire at this time. There is debris scattered behind the crash site.”
“On arrival of the (mock exercise) scene, the responding crews will see random fire and smoke, around a 19 passenger plan, which is somewhat intact, missing a portion of the tail section. There are people throughout the crash site in various places. At this time there are trace amounts of smoke in the fuselage with several trapped patients, including a 28-year-old woman who is pregnant. The plane is not in any danger of exploding or catching fire. There is chaos with those involved.”
In the exercise, emergency service providers were faced with darkness as the exercised was held in the evening, and at the end of the runway where the incident place took place, there are gates, with cattle looking on. In one area there was a car that had taken on the role of the airplane involved in the accident with many of the hurt passengers inside, close by or in another part of the area. As well, there were five fires burning during the exercise to be put out.
“I think everything went awesome,” stated Aaron Wright, a paramedic and Billings firefighter who had been one of the main organizers of the mock air disaster. “It was awesome to see how everyone was able to pull together and take care of everything that would need to be done in a real disaster. The high school student volunteers did a great job of playing the role of those who were injured.”
“There were some things during the exercise that need to be worked on, but everything went very well,” said Mike Addison, fire chief for the Gore Bay-Gordon/Barrie Island Volunteer Fire Department. “With this type of mock exercise experience, if anything like this actually takes place, we will all know how to deal with it.”
“The last time we put on a mock disaster like this was around 1997,” said Mr. Wright. “But everyone knew what their job and responsibility is in an emergency and everything went very well.”
“It was good that we had everyone there together either taking part or observing. We all know each other better and what we can and need to do,” said Mr. Addison.
“And the students and the screaming they did for instance in playing the roles of having been hurt in the plane crash makes it good for the fire-fighters, search and rescue and medical personnel-because that is the type of thing they would be facing in an actual disaster,” said Mr. Addison. “The students played their roles very well,” he said- noting each of the students had a role to play.
MSS student Haley VanderWeerden has been asked by Mr. Wright to volunteer at the mock disaster, “taking on the role of an injured victim from a plane crash. I acted as an unconscious 17 year-old with severe head injuries. I was very interesting in participating in the drill since I hope to enter a career as a paramedic adding, “I enjoyed having the opportunity to watch the various emergency response agencies working together.”
A debriefing exercise was held afterwards with over 60 people on hand, and during the incident about 75 people were involved including participants and onlookers.
“I’m very pleased with the results and the participation of everyone. We will probably be doing another mock exercise in the spring,” added Mr. Addison.
Mr. Wright noted discussion on this mock exercise began last April, for the fall, and lining up all the players in the exercise.
Jim McLean, district emergency coordinator with Manitoulin Amateur Radio Emergency Service said he and colleagues were on hand as observers for this exercise. “I thought everything went very well. It was well organized and planned out. I wasn’t surprised by the professionalism shown by all the agencies there.”
“And we were quite pleased with the response times of all the agencies to the situation,” said Mr. McLean. “I thought everything went pretty well, and everyone learned a lot,” added Mr. McLean.
“I think it was excellent,” said Robby Colwell, manager of the airport. “The Gore Bay-Manitoulin Airport is a certified Aerodrome which must be operated and maintained to more stringent standard than registered airports. It is positioned in the centre of a certified airport triangle, with each corner of the triangle represented by Sault Ste. Marie airport to the west, Sudbury Airport to the east and Wiarton Airport to the south. We are the centre of the triangle and strategically positioned right under a major air corridor that has been used for decades. The airport was constructed as an emergency airfield in 1947 and it stills serves this purpose today. Our main runway could accommodate a sizable aircraft in the event of a real emergency. The last time the airport was used for this purpose was in 2007 when a 52 passenger Convair 580 made a successful single engine emergency landing.”
“The live event conducted on November 9, 2016 was needed for the airport to meet regulatory compliance but also provided a mock exercise that brought mutual benefit to all emergency responders and participants. I thank them all for an exceptional turnout and for how they handled the situation so well! We all learn from these exercises and can never be too prepared for the real thing, if it ever happens,” added Mr. Colwell.
