Wednesday's training was the biggest coordinated training exercise ever conducted locally. LISTEN:
Emergency responders across Pima County took part Wednesday in the biggest coordinated training exercise ever conducted locally.
The Marana portion of the exercise started with a mid-landing collision of two airplanes: one carrying 18 passengers and the other flown by armed outlaws who, when approached by police, pull the trigger.
"Nine nine nine, I’ve been shot," reported the downed officer into his radio.
This was just the beginning of what would be a very bad– albeit staged– day in Pima County.
Brian Keeley, public information officer for Northwest Fire said on this training day, mistakes were OK.
"And if we’re going to make them, training simulations are where we want those failures to occur. This is where we want to learn what we can do better."
The Marana portion of the exercise started with a mid-landing collision of two airplanes.Twenty-seven agencies participated in the training.
"This truly is about cooperation," said Keeley. "There are no lines in the sand, there are no boundaries. The public comes first regardless of jurisdiction."
Keeley said hopefully Pima County’s emergency response networks will never be placed under such severe strain as they were during the training. But if they are, after this training, they will be better equipped to deal with anything that could go wrong on such a terrible day.
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