Wiregrass Electric Cooperative to hold live emergency simulation event on April 9th

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Posted by: raltman
Date: Apr 07 2015 9:54 AM

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative to hold live emergency simulation event on April 9

HARTFORD, Ala. — Ten different organizations will come together on Thursday, April 9 to simulate a possible disaster scenario in order to learn how to communicate and work efficiently to solve problem.

“This is about preparedness,” says Brad Kimbro, chief operating officer at Wiregrass Electric Cooperative. “When a disaster strikes, we need to already have a game plan for communication and for coordinating all the different organizations that could be responsible for responding. That’s why we’re having what’s called a MAYDAY procedure.”

The MAYDAY simulation chosen for this exercise involves a school bus wrecking into a power pole that a WEC crew is performing maintenance on. Geneva, Hartford, Samson and Slocomb have all committed emergency management and fire resources to the drill. There will be several calls to local EMS and 911 services to simulate a realistic response timeline.

“We hope that an accident like this would never occur,” says Kimbro. “But, we need to be prepared if this, or something like this, were to ever happen. We believe in being ready for whatever could possibly come our way, so that we can keep disasters like this from becoming any worse than they would be already.”

WEC recently held a meeting with all its employees to celebrate reaching 500,000 hours worked with no lost-time accidents. “We take safety very seriously here,” says Les Moreland, CEO at WEC. “It’s our No. 1 priority in everything we do. By partnering with organizations like the Geneva County Local Emergency Planning Committee to put on MAYDAY drills and the like, we extend that commitment to safety outside just our organization. That’s a powerful thing, and we’re glad to be able to do it.”

This scenario will include the following participants:-Wiregrass Electric Cooperative

-Wiregrass Medical Center
-Geneva County School System

-Geneva County Emergency Management Agency (EMA)

-Geneva County E-911

-Geneva County Volunteer Fire Fighters Association

-Geneva County Fire Departments

-Geneva County Emergency Management System (EMS) Departments

-Geneva County Law Enforcement (Sheriff and other local Geneva County police)

-AIRHeart

About Wiregrass Electric Cooperative:

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative is an electric distribution system located in Southeast Alabama with more than 3,500 miles of power lines providing reliable and affordable electricity and energy solutions to approximately 23,500 homes and businesses in Houston, Geneva, Covington, Dale and Coffee counties. For more information, visit our website at www.wiregrass.coop.

For more information:
Deanna Albritton
Wiregrass Electric Cooperative, Inc.
(334) 944-7414 – (334) 723-5435
E-mail: [email protected]

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