Mass casualty exercise to take place at Sheridan County Airport

Together with approximately 12 city and county agencies, the Sheridan County Airport will be conducting a mass casualty exercise on Thursday, June 23.  

Each agency will be evaluated on their performance while handling a simulated crash of a Bombardier CRJ200 passenger plane, the same make and model currently used for air services at the airport. 

While appearing on Sheridan Meida’s Public Pulse program, Sheridan County Airport Manager John Stopka told listeners the goal of the extensive exercise. 

Approximately 20-25 actors will play casualties of a crash resulting from geese destroying an engine of the jet plane. Using a bus as a make-shift fuselage, the exercise will operate the same as a real world incident. 

Stopka reassured listeners that these “casualties” will be assessed and triaged at different locations within the Sheridan Airport Business Park to prevent any emergency vehicles from having to traverse through the city.