Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Task force updates court on hazmat trailers, drone team and search-and-rescue work
Summary
Oldham County task-force leaders described county hazmat capability, mutual-aid arrangements and an increasingly active drone-based aerial response team used for search-and-rescue, hazmat response and large incidents.
Task-force leaders and emergency-management representatives briefed the fiscal court on June 17 about hazardous-materials response, mutual aid, and a county drone (Aero Response) team used for search-and-rescue and major incidents.
The task force — which includes volunteer fire departments and county emergency management — maintains a level-A entry trailer and a level-B decontamination trailer, and members described personal-protective equipment, monitoring and sampling gear, and a Polaris Ranger funded by grants. The county’s drone trailer, started with seed funding from a local donor and fiscal-court support, is self-sufficient with solar and generator backup and carries multiple drones and displays so agencies can jointly view imagery at incident command posts.
Search-and-rescue coordinators said the drone team is frequently used for missing-person searches (including elderly people with dementia and lost children), and the task force also supports urban search-and-rescue, swift-water and technical rescue operations. The county provides mutual-aid assistance to neighboring jurisdictions and sends teams outside the county when requested; the speakers noted prior out-of-county deployments and grants tied to hazmat capability. The task force is working to expand pilot training and increase the number of certified drone pilots in the county.
Magistrates and the judge praised the volunteer responders and noted the county plans to name Bill McClay as an assistant emergency management director later in the meeting.
