LAYTON, Utah — If a catastrophic disaster hits, Hill Air Force Base (Hill) plans to be ready.
On Friday the 13th, the 75th medical group at Hill went through a full scale disaster response exercise to handle the aftermath of a potential biochemical explosion as quickly and as calmly as possible.
Approximately 70 volunteers were recruited for the exercise, with medical teams tending to multiple victims with wide ranging injuries after determining the type of chemical that was emitted.
Leaders at the Hill said this was the first exercise of this size, meant to fully test the team.
"That’s a big stress to our team, really with a small event here even five or ten people, so getting 50 people out here is really going to force us to think about that large exercise and what we would have to do and how we can incorporate our community," said Colonel Tracie Swingle, Commander of the 75th medical group at Hill.
After the drill, team leaders will review how they did and examine areas where they excelled and those that need improvement.
This type of training is happening across the country to prepare air force bases to handle disasters they hope will never happen.
