Public help vital to depot's preparedness

This story was published Wed, Apr 19, 2000

By Mary Hopkin
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - Emergency service managers have spent countless hours making sure they are prepared if a chemical release at the Umatilla Army Depot were to occur.

The state has spent millions of dollars on studies and emergency equipment to keep the public safe in that event.

But the public has to do its part, as well.

Over the past two days, a group of federal, state and local emergency service personnel have been assessing the ability of agencies within the Umatilla Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program to respond to a chemical event.

During the two-day Readiness Assessment Roadmap Forum, presented by Madhu Beriwal, president of Innovative Emergency Management, the public employees discussed nearly every minute detail of warning, protecting the public and providing medical services during a chemical release.

But the work is all in vain without the cooperation of the public they are trying to serve.

But no matter how prepared the Army, fire, law enforcement and emergency agencies are, the public also must be prepared in case of an accident or they could put themselves at unnecessary risk, Beriwal said.

If a release did occur, it's unlikely anyone outside the depot's boundaries would suffer more than blurred vision and a runny nose, she said. Those symptoms would begin to disappear when the victim reached clean, safe air, and victims will not likely experience any permanent physical damage, she added.

Although the Army has estimated that in a worst-case scenario, continued storage of the aging chemical stockpile could result in more that 10,000 deaths within a 62-mile radius, Beriwal said the odds of that scenario were 1 in 100 million.

Beriwal's assessment, funded by the state of Oregon, looked at things that were only a little more likely to happen - scenarios that had a one-in-a-million chance of coming to life - and finding ways to keep people safe in those instances. In her worst-case scenario, no lethal chemical dose would escape depot boundaries.

But to be safe in any scenario, the public must react as quickly as possible when the community's 42 sirens sound, or if they are tipped off by highway reader boards, tone alert radios or emergency alert system that there has been a release.

"People should know the steps they are going to take, not decide at the moment of an emergency," Beriwal said. "Don't do things that are not productive. It's not the time to call 15 people. You need to take action quickly."

Each family should designate a room of the house as a shelter room. If the house is two or more stories, a room on the top floor would be preferable, according to Lenore Pointer, CSEPP public information officer for Morrow County. Chemical agents are heavier than air and therefore sink, Pointer said.

The room should have a radio and a "shelter in place kit," which can be obtained through local CSEPP offices. Families also should agree on an out-of-area friend of relative to call if they can't make it to their home. That should be the only call a person makes, Beriwal said. "Don't call 911 unless it is an emergency," she added.

The depot is required to notify emergency services in Umatilla, Morrow and Benton counties within 10 minutes of discovering a release, and they have met that requirement, said Lt. Col. Thomas Woloszyn, UCD commander. The procedure is known as an "all-call."

"Ten minutes is a standard, but it's not my goal," Woloszyn said. "My goal is going to be notifying them as quickly as possible."

 

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