Wheatland County hosts major emergency response training exercise

More than 250 emergency professionals from 39 agencies took part in training Thursday to test their ability to respond to a mass casualty disaster.

Wheatland County Reeve Amber Link says the exercise is an important test of its two-year-old Emergency Management Partnership.

"So we're able to actually test our partnership and see how it will work, we're also able to build relationships," Link says. "[We'll] look for weaknesses, things that maybe we hadn't identified when we were doing our planning."

The situation simulated a tornado striking Chestermere, taking out a reception centre, triggering an ammonia leak while destroying houses and piling up cars on the highway. It included water rescue elements and triage and transport of victims.

Chestermere Fire Chief Jamie Coutts is no stranger to Alberta's disaster areas. He was fire chief in Slave Lake in 2011, on the front lines of the Ft. McMurray fire and the 2013 flood.

The situation simulated a tornado striking Chestermere, taking out a reception centre, triggering an ammonia leak while destroying houses and piling up cars on the highway. It included water rescue elements and triage and transport of victims.

Despite significant experience he says he is learning as well, seeing new camera technology being used by Canada Task Force 2 members. That kind of first-hand observation means that decision makers better understand each others' capabilities, making it easier to know who to call for what needs.

"I know what I want, but I don't know who has it. This way I know all the tools, and I know where the toolbox is, so now I just have to go to the toolbox and access those tools," Coutts says.

The agencies plan to gather in October to go over what worked well and identify areas of improvement.