By Gerry Descoteaux
Correspondent

Controllers, evaluators and observers from the New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management, and the Goffstown police and fire departments oversee the setup of a mock terrorism drill that took place on Henry Bridge Road in Goffstown on Friday, March 11. (Gerry Descoteaux Photo)

Henry Bridge Road in Goffstown was the scene Friday morning of what, at first, appeared to be a minor traffic accident between a special-needs school bus and a U-Haul rental truck.

However, as first responders arrived at the scene, a thick, acrid, yellow smoke erupted from behind one of the vehicles, which soon developed into an airborne cloud of toxic vapors instantly disabling the first emergency workers to reach the victims.

So began the emergency response drill sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and coordinated by the New Hampshire Department of Emergency Services on Friday, March 11.

The drill included the Goffstown fire and police departments, Catholic Medical Center in Manchester and personnel from police and fire departments from throughout the state, some from as far away as Belmont and Hudson.

Members of the Goffstown Special Hazmat Response Team suit up during the mock terrorism drill held on Henry Bridge Road in Goffstown on Friday, March 11. (Gerry Descoteaux Photo)

"It's all about training," said Gregory Champlin, natural hazards program specialist with the New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management. "But it also gives us a chance to evaluate the procedures we've developed, especially since 9/11.

"Our job, specifically, is to coordinate all aspects of these types of drills, just as we would during an actual emergency. There are dozens of agencies, fire and police departments cooperating in today's exercise."

Goffstown Police Chief Mike French said the drill took months to prepare. "There is quite a large contingent of emergency personnel, local volunteers, and representatives of the media here to coordinate, control and observe the drill," he said. "There are upwards of 75 controllers and observers involved in running the drill, and that's in addition to perhaps as many as several hundred others if you count the school kids and staff at the middle school that could very well be evacuated during the exercise."

Planners looked at every possible complication that might have developed during such a crisis. Contingency plans were already in place to deal with chemical spills on the bridge at the scene of the initial accident where there was a real potential of toxins contaminating the river below.

During a brief break during Friday morning's mock terrorism drill, police Lt. Mike Sullivan and Capt. Steve Tower of the Goffstown Fire Department clown around with a spent smoke canister. Sullivan was a first responder during the drill and was counted as one of the initial "casualties." (Gerry Descoteaux Photo)

The special hazardous materials unit from Manchester, who are best equipped to identify and deal with these types of issues, were part of the drill, as were staff members at the Catholic Medical Center, who were prepared to receive these specific types of casualties.

In this case, eight "victims" were eventually transported, including two of the first responders to the scene who had been overcome by toxic fumes.

"Areas to be evaluated during a drill like this include not only how the local emergency responders react during an event such as this, but how those throughout the community perform," said Champlin. "For instance, we look at how school administrators react when they are notified that there has been a toxic cloud of poison gas released into the atmosphere."

The drill was designed to be the result of a terrorist incident in which two 55 gallon barrels of hydrocyanic acid are spilled during a traffic accident, Champlin said.

"Here in Goffstown, the training and preparation for just such an event has been outstanding," he said. "In the case of the school today, we'll evaluate how they followed the procedures they've been taught. For instance, during a scenario such as today's, that would include shutting down the school's ventilation systems and sealing the building until a determination is made as to whether or not the school needs to be evacuated."

No one except the controllers and organizers of the drill knew what was going to happen. The first officers arriving on the scene became casualties, as were those in the U-Haul and school bus.

As more responders arrived, however, and began evaluating the situation, they were able to successfully determine that something other than a traffic accident had occurred and calls were immediately made for specialized help.

"These are just some of the things that we need to evaluate during these drills," Champlin added.

Herbert "Cal" Calvitto, an 18-year veteran communications specialist with the state Office of Emergency Management, monitored the communications used during the drill from within the state's emergency communications van. At a cost of nearly $400,000, the unit is packed with some of the most sophisticated communications equipment available today, he said.

"From within the van during a real emergency, for instance, we can provide instant on-site reports and monitor events as they unfold in real time, which lets us better coordinate response from local, state and federal agencies," he said.

The Bureau of Emergency Management plans and stages approximately 10 to 12 of these drills each year, said Leigh Cheney, who worked as a drill evaluator.

"The drill was absolutely successful in that we got some excellent real-world training and that we were able to uncover both positive and negative issues, which we can now bring back to the group in the planned follow-up sessions and determine what measures, if any, we need to take to improve upon the town's emergency response systems," said French. "Everyone did what they were supposed to do – as they had been trained. It's proven to be an excellent tool with which to evaluate how we, as a town, will be able to react if something like this were to ever occur here."