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Kim Lamb/LVN photo Victims of a simulated C-40 Clipper plane crash at NAS Fallon wait for assistance from medical personnel Friday. An overturned school bus was used as a mock C-40 which had crashed.
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ENLARGE
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U.S. Navy Comdr. Doug Russell, also serves as the director of NAS Fallon's Emergency Operations Center.
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Kim Lamb/LVN photo Nevada Air National Guard Chief Suzie Reynolds is is escorted to triage by an NAS Fallon firefighter during emergency exercises at the base Friday morning.
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By BURKE WASSON
LVN Staff Writer
LVN Staff Writer
Dead bodies, the walking wounded and limbs torn from human bodies cluttered a sagebrush field Friday morning at NAS Fallon. The scene would have been gruesome to the naked eye - if it weren't staged.
As part of an exercise to determine the Naval Air Station's ability to respond to a real-life plane crash with mass casualties, the base staged a disaster drill Friday morning near a field just east of the base's movie theater.
NAS Fallon Emergency Management Officer Don Hardy said the staged situation involved a C-40 passenger jet being shot down by a missile that was fired from Rattlesnake Hill. A turned-over school bus simulated what was left of the jet lying on the ground.
As part of an exercise to determine the Naval Air Station's ability to respond to a real-life plane crash with mass casualties, the base staged a disaster drill Friday morning near a field just east of the base's movie theater.
NAS Fallon Emergency Management Officer Don Hardy said the staged situation involved a C-40 passenger jet being shot down by a missile that was fired from Rattlesnake Hill. A turned-over school bus simulated what was left of the jet lying on the ground.
NAS Fallon Ambulance Services responded to the "crash" and removed the "injured and dead" from the scene.
Personnel from both NAS Fallon and the Air National Guard in Reno acted out the roles of the injured or deceased. Some laid on the ground next to the simulated crash site, others acted the part of wounded passengers still trapped inside the plane and more were caught in the sagebrush a few yards east of the site. Each were covered in make-up and fake blood symbolizing what exact injuries they sustained and carried notecards describing precisely what injuries they had.
Reno's Air National Guard base also sent a C-130 plane to the base to simulate carrying the massive amount of wounded passengers to hospitals in Washoe County.
Personnel from both NAS Fallon and the Air National Guard in Reno acted out the roles of the injured or deceased. Some laid on the ground next to the simulated crash site, others acted the part of wounded passengers still trapped inside the plane and more were caught in the sagebrush a few yards east of the site. Each were covered in make-up and fake blood symbolizing what exact injuries they sustained and carried notecards describing precisely what injuries they had.
Reno's Air National Guard base also sent a C-130 plane to the base to simulate carrying the massive amount of wounded passengers to hospitals in Washoe County.
According to Air National Guard Maj. Theron Gough, a C-130 jet can carry about 70 patients on "litter stretchers," which makes them viable solutions for the mass transportation of wounded people in the event of a real-life plane crash.
But with the fate of the C-130s at the Reno base in jeopardy after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's recommendation that they be transferred out of Reno, NAS Fallon might not have such a large emergency plane only a 20-minute flight away.
"Because of BRAC, the state of Nevada could lose that asset," Gough said. "They would be losing a lot of those capabilities and available planes."
But with the fate of the C-130s at the Reno base in jeopardy after the Base Realignment and Closure Commission's recommendation that they be transferred out of Reno, NAS Fallon might not have such a large emergency plane only a 20-minute flight away.
"Because of BRAC, the state of Nevada could lose that asset," Gough said. "They would be losing a lot of those capabilities and available planes."
However the fate of the C-130s in Reno plays out, NAS Fallon has its own capabilities to monitor, and Friday's disaster drill was a chance to find out what they can do.
The drill was the first simulated mass-casualty operation that the base has run in four years. Navy Cmdr. Doug Russell, who also serves as the director of NAS Fallon's Emergency Operations Center, said it was the fruition of six months of planning
It's an opportunity for us to address our concerns with being able to handle a mass casualty type of incident like a plane crash," he said. "That's how we learn from our mistakes. It's gone real well. We're learning a lot. We're making mistakes, which is good. I'd rather make them now than in a real situation."
The drill was the first simulated mass-casualty operation that the base has run in four years. Navy Cmdr. Doug Russell, who also serves as the director of NAS Fallon's Emergency Operations Center, said it was the fruition of six months of planning
It's an opportunity for us to address our concerns with being able to handle a mass casualty type of incident like a plane crash," he said. "That's how we learn from our mistakes. It's gone real well. We're learning a lot. We're making mistakes, which is good. I'd rather make them now than in a real situation."
NAS Fallon's emergency management staff will begin Monday the process of gathering the results of Friday's disaster drill.
