On December 5, the Town of Suffield and the Suffield Public School District prepared for the worst. Twenty-four staff members representing all departments of the town government, including public safety and the School District, participated in a table-top mock exercise drill coordinated by Suffield Emergency Management.
During this simulated critical incident, town and school leadership faced the challenging task of responding to a carbon monoxide leak in an occupied school during a cold winter day. Tasks to be addressed ranged from mass evacuation, triaging medical care, communication, reunification of students with families, with several injected incidents that continually changed the scenario throughout the exercise.
This exercise tested the ability of all to function under a unified command, planning and responding to this simulated crisis. This training provided town leaders, department heads, and school leadership an excellent overview of resources needed, how to think “outside the box” using current resources, and plans that need to be coordinated in advance.
On a related note, the Suffield Police with our public safety partners, town leadership, and school district colleagues request your help so that we may better help you. We strongly encourage all those who reside, work, and travel through Suffield to sign up for emergency messaging at CTAlert.gov http://www.ct.gov/ctalert/site/default.asp or via the Town of Suffield website at http://suffieldct.gov/tools. This will allow for emergency and timely notifications to be sent to your email, PDA, mobile phone voicemail, and/or mobile phone text messaging.
In addition, several Suffield social media applications will provide you with timely updated information if you follow and subscribe to:
• Suffield Police Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SuffieldPolice
• Suffield Police Twitter (@SuffieldPolice) https://twitter.com/suffieldpolice?lang=en
• Town of Suffield https://www.facebook.com/townofsuffield
• Suffield Volunteer Ambulance https://www.facebook.com/SuffieldAmbulance/
• Suffield Public Schools https://www.facebook.com/SuffieldPS/
• Suffield Fire Department https://www.facebook.com/SuffieldCtFireDepartment/
Please do not hesitate to contact the Suffield Police Department with any questions you may have regarding emergency notifications 860-668-3880 or CMcKee@SuffieldCT.gov