Wright-Patt to hold mass casualty, hazmat training exercises today

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will conduct week-long training exercises for hazmat and mass casualty situations starting today.

Personnel will respond to different scenarios designed to demonstrate “Wright-Patt’s ability to respond to different emergency events,” according to the base. During the week, exercise sirens could be sounded and may be audible in areas adjacent to the base, according to a release.

Traffic on the base could be impacted as gates could be backed up and some roadways may be temporarily blocked, according to the release.

» RELATED: Wright-Patt active shooter report shows response could have led to ‘serious injury’

The exercises scheduled for the week are performed to meet annual requirements as by the Air Force. Installation Inspection Team members, who will be wearing bright-yellow reflective vests, will evaluate the response to the exercise events throughout the week, according to the base.

Next week’s training comes around nine months after a false active shooter incident ocurred in August 2018. The incident resulted in a military service member discharging multiple rounds of ammunition from an assault rifle.

A “poorly planned and executed” base exercise caused a chaotic response to the August false alarm, according to a report about the incident released in December. An uncoordinated response from law enforcement in August could have resulted in “serious injury and property damage” and terrified staff and civilians in a hospital filled with “fog and friction,” the report stated.

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