First responders and nearly all educational facilities in Scottsbluff participated in the annual community-wide emergency simulation exercise that took place Tuesday morning.
Scottsbluff Schools Safety and Security Coordinator James Todd said this year’s scenario was a lockdown followed by evacuation at every school building, including ESU 13 and Community Christian School.
However, there was a twist. “We threw a little bit of a curveball in there and took out communications. They weren’t able to use the radio or any IP-based telephones,” said Todd, “and then we simulated cell phone towers being clogged up with traffic, so they weren’t able to call out on those either. So we kind of made each building its standalone entity.”
Todd told KNEB News while there was a hiccup here and there, overall each of the schools taking part in the simulation performed well.
He says that given society’s reliance on technology for communications, the scenario was certainly plausible.
