MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - In anticipation of an emergency that could take place at Miami International Airport, the airport conducted their tri-annual emergency drill to put their safety operations to the test.
Several agencies realistically reenacted an emergency scenario, with passengers jumping out of a plane, fuel spilling from the wing of a plane and smoke billowing into the air.
The FAA requires the airport to hold the drill every three years, but the timing of this specific drill comes a little more than a month after the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport shooting, making this training crucial.
“The things that happen at the airports, they’re very infrequent, but when they happen they’re major,” explained Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Wesley Lebron. “Basically, by doing this drill, it provides a platform for training and familiarization for all responding agencies.”
Safety advisers at the drill took a closer look at what happened at FLL, and what could have been better.
“I know that for them, a huge problem was tracking the patients,” said Lebron.
Therefore, during this drill, they paid more attention on that tracking between the passengers and what hospital they were taken too.
“The best way to learn is from other people’s experiences,” added Lebron.
A similar drill took place at Port Everglades, where the Broward’s Sheriff’s Office, the Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team and the National Guard donned hazardous material suits and worked to disarm a fake dirty bomb.
Police boats with emergency lights pulled up to the ship where the drill was taking place.
The agencies tested out their ability to respond if something were to happen to a vessel off shore.
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