A tabletop exercise designed by Dave McDowell, Director of Carroll County Emergency Management, to meet State requirements for the Emergency Management Agency, Local Emergency Planning Committee, and Health Department. Humor was an integral part of the delivery, in order to balance the dire nature of the presentation, which included a train wreck, chemical spill, and communicable disease.

1. “Oh Duck!”
a
Train wreck in Delphi

2. A tabletop exercise.
Brought to you by:
Carroll County Emergency Management
Carroll County Health
Carroll County LEPC
(Local Emergency Planning Committee).

3. Featuring partners from:
• Carroll County Sheriff’s Department
• City of Delphi
• Carroll County E911 Communications
• Delphi Tri-Township Fire Territory
• Carroll County Emergency Medical Service (EMS)
• Tippecanoe Red Cross
• West Central Indiana Communities Active in Disasters (WCI-
COAD)
• Purdue University
• Norfolk & Southern Railroad
• Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH)
• Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS)

4. Order of activities:
1: FOOD! Get it; take it to your table, eat it.
2: Brief outline
3: Module 1 Initial emergency response
Discussion
4: Module 2 Delayed medical crisis
Discussion
5: Summary (Hotwash)

5. Emergency 101
After 9-11-2001, the United States looked for a
proven method for multi-agency response to
large disasters.
They found the Incident Command System, used
by western firefighters in giant wildfires.
They used this model to create the National
Incident Management System (NIMS).

6. If you are interested in learning about how the
government will respond to a large
emergency, you can take NIMS courses online,
free of charge at:
http://training.fema.gov/IS/crslist.asp
From this site, you can access courses from the
most basic to the most detailed, including a
very detailed weather analysis course.

7. NIMS (which may change its name to the
“National Response Framework” soon…)
provides for a division of labor to improve
efficiency, and break jobs down into doable
“chunks”.
It allows for the handling of administrative tasks,
without getting in the way of the people doing
the dangerous work of responding to an
emergency.

8. EOC
Emergency Operations Center
(Manages requests from ICC, administrative
functions, public information, etc.)
ICC
Incident Command Center
(Manages immediate response
needs of an incident; police, fire,
medical, etc.)

9. Our situation:
• Emergency Operation
Center (EOC)
-Carroll County EMA
-Reps from each
responding agency
• Incident Command Center (ICC)
-Carroll County Govt.
– Delphi Tri-Township Fire
-Delphi Govt. – Delphi Police Department
-WCI-COAD – Carroll County Sheriff
-Red Cross – Carroll County E911
- IDHS District 4 rep – Carroll County EMS
-ISDH rep – Carroll County LEPC
– Norfolk & Southern

10. Module 1

11. Module 1
It’s Thursday, June 14th, at 6:45 p.m.

12. Module 1
It’s Thursday, June 14th, at 6:45 p.m.
For reasons only she will ever understand,
a duck crosses the road.

13. Module 1
It’s Thursday, June 14th, at 6:45 p.m.
For reasons only she will ever understand,
a duck crosses the road.
She is followed by her babies.

15. The sheer, fuzzy cuteness causes
Pandemonium.

16. Surprised by the sudden stop of traffic,
the driver of a semi, southbound on 25, and
loaded with rolled steel must stop suddenly.
The rolls of steel come loose, and roll downhill
toward a northbound 50 car train, which is
about 1/3 of the way through the intersection.

18. The train is struck.
With 2 locomotives weighing over 150 tons
each, and 50 cars, each weighing upwards of
30 tons, the train has a lot of energy.

19. Physics happens.
Although the locomotive alone outweighs the
semi by at least 100 tons, the combination of
system shock, debris under the wheels, and
the outward force of the curve causes a
derailment.

22. 18 cars derail to the west side of the tracks, with
some cars tumbling into the McDonald’s
parking lot, and others colliding with homes
north of McDonald’s.

23. With several cars toppling over, the locomotives
eventually come to a stop, north of Wilson
Street.
Derailed cars block every intersection to Union
Street.
Most severe damage is in the McDonald’s
parking lot, and the homes to the north.

24. Initial damage reports
Dispatchers hear what they think is thunder from inside
the Sheriff’s office.
Callers report fire and several injuries/deaths from a train
derailment which is blocking State Road 25/Highway 18
/ 39 at the south end of Delphi.
A retired chemist tells dispatchers that he sees 2 ruptured
tankers, and leaking gas clouds, but is not equipped to
get close enough to read the labels. Gas appears
heavier than air; travels along the ground.

25. The ducks are unscathed.

26. Huh?

27. Initial response
Dispatch notifies the Sheriff, the Delphi Tri-
Township Fire department, and the EMA.

28. Not knowing yet if the Sheriff’s office will be
safe from chemicals, the E911 Director tells
several dispatchers to head to Delphi High
School, to assist with an Incident Command
Center and an Emergency Operation Center.

29. The EMA Director is stuck in an
elevator (in another state), and
calls Deputy Director Mike
Titus, who heads to the Delphi
Middle School, to meet with
police and fire responders at
the Incident Command Center.

30. Mike notifies Red Cross that there may be a
sheltering need in Carroll County, and Chris
Brady asks WCI-COAD Director Julie Gainey to
meet her at the Emergency Operation Center
at Delphi High School.

31. They are joined by Assistant Deputy EMA
Director Justin Darling, and various
government representatives.

32. Breakout for responders
Some questions the ICC will be answering:
What are the chemicals, what are the effects?
Should people stay or leave?
How do you tell them?
How do you move prisoners? (Do you move them?)
How does help get to the victims, with most
intersections blocked?
If assistance is called for from District 4, how does it
get here?

33. Some questions the EOC will be answering.
Does the City / County need to declare a
disaster?
What types of warnings / alerts to put out?
How do we get them out?
If we call for aid, who pays?
Where should we send people for shelter?
What should we tell people who want to
volunteer to help?

34. Miscellaneous facts about the situation.
Weather is cool and cloudy. Wind is from the southwest.
The fires near the train wreck:
Small brush fires
A pickup in the McDonald’s lot is burning, because it had 2, 5-gallon cans of gas and a
mower in the bed. It is mostly beneath an empty boxcar. Driver of the vehicle is
inside the vehicle, presumed dead.
Several homes to the north of the McDonald’s have extensive damage, and a fire has
started in the kitchen of the house on Franklin St., adjacent to the railroad. It is
unknown if the homes were occupied.
The 2 leaking tankers turn out to be chlorine. They are in the roadway on 25, and in
the grass between McDonald’s and 25.
There are 2 dead, 8 injured and needing transport. Those able to move have gone to
the CVS parking lot.
Hoosier Heartland construction has blocked: 421, 800 West, and 75 North.

35. Discussion
ICC: In less than 5 minutes, describe the 2 most
serious issues, and what steps were discussed
to deal with them.
EOC: In less than 5 minutes, describe the 2 most
serious issues, and what steps were discussed
to deal with them.

36. Module 2
Among the dead and wounded were two shady-
looking men with rifles. Initially thought to be
hoboes, or al-Qaida scouts, it turns out they
were local varmint hunters who could afford
$2,000 benchrest rifles, but were too cheap to
spring for airfare to Montana, where they
went to hunt prairie dogs.
In addition to guns and a bad case of boxcar-
rash, the men were also packing PNEUMONIC
PLAGUE, which they caught from prairie dogs.

37. Health care emergency
Pneumonic Plague infects the lungs.
It spreads from person to person through the air.
Early treatment is essential; antibiotics must be given
within 24 hours of first symptoms.
Symptoms include fever, headache, weakness, and rapidly
developing pneumonia, with shortness of breath, chest
pain, cough, etc.
Prophylaxis is Ciproflaxacin or Doxycycline for 7 days.
The public and news media are requesting info on the
situation, and direction about what actions to take.

38. Breakout for Health responders
Some questions they’ll be answering:
How many people are affected?
How do we know?
What do we do for them?
How do we do it?

39. Discussion
Briefly discuss what issues are involved in
delivering treatment to potentially-exposed
residents, and how you would handle the
issues.

40. Hotwash
Comments?
Suggestions?
Participants will receive an electronic copy of
the After Action Review (AAR) via email.

41. Thank you!
(No ducks, hoboes, or varmint hunters were harmed while making or executing this exercise.)