Beech Tree News Network

Butler County Middle School was the site of an emergency exercise last Thursday afternoon. Butler County Schools coordinated with the emergency services of Morgantown and Butler County to plan the exercise. Students first experienced an earthquake drill, a fire drill then evacuated students from the building, and they were then removed from school grounds to the bus lot at the Board of Education due to a gas leak.

The Safety Ambassadors from Butler County High School came to BCMS and role-played as students with "injuries" during the exercise. Some of the Safety Ambassadors suffered injuries which required them to remain on school grounds in a triage area while two students suffered injuries severe enough that first responders had to locate them and bring them to safety.

Preliminary reports indicated that it took approximately 2 minutes for the students to evacuate the building. The first students reached the bus lot within 5 minutes of leaving school grounds. It took 25 minutes for first responders to come to the school, search and locate the injured students, remove those students, and then clear the scene.

School officials and emergency personnel were present at the post-exercise debriefing that took place on Friday morning. Those present representing the Butler County School District were Scott Howard, Ken Reed, Elaine Daugherty, Jo Lynn Reed, Jeff Jennings, and Mike Gruber. Representing emergency personnel were Morgantown Police Chief Billy Phelps, EMS Director Brian McKinney, Emergency Management Director Terry Hunt, and Brian Hope from the Morgantown Fire Department.

Mr. Reed, District Leader, reported that the earthquake drill began at 12:58, the fire alarm went off at 12:58:50, the power went out at 1:00, and by 1:02 the students were clear of the building. Director McKinney reported that dispatch received a 911 call from BCMS at 12:57 and dispatched responders at 12:58:22. The last unit was cleared of the scene at 13:43:37.

All of the officials present said that they were pleased with the exercise.

Areas for improvement included lighting, evacuation routes, communications, and the location of the triage unit.