1 worker killed, 2 injured in Liberal truck washing incident
2 September 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Federal Aviation Administration mandates that airports hold a full-scale disaster training exercise every three years. Friday’s simulation at Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport was a plane crash landing with 75 people on board.
The airport’s last training exercise was in 2020 during COVID-19. This made it so they were unable to use people as victims, but instead, t-shirts. On Friday, they have around 100 student volunteers from Goddard High School playing the roles.
“They trained on us always, and they got to see the different types of injuries that we have and how to handle those situations. I think this is a great thing. If this was a real-world situation, it would be nice to know that we had some sort of effect on helping them train,” said Cayman Staley, a senior at Goddard High School.
The students were from the school’s law enforcement pathway program or the theater program. The ones in the field all acted as if they had experienced different types and levels of injuries.
The theater students participated by acting as loved ones concerned about someone they knew on board. The airport’s incident family support team worked with them in order to prepare for how to handle those affected by a real crisis.
Fire crews put out the initial fire in less than 90 seconds before first responders could get started treating victims.
The airport’s fire and police chief, Roger Xanders, says that because it is a small airport, they rely heavily on outside agencies like Sedgwick County EMS to help in these situations. He believes this training will benefit them in the future.
“Every incident is different; we don’t know exactly what we’re going to get, but face-to-face training throughout the year will prepare us for what is going on today or if an actual incident were to occur,” said Xanders.