“Emergency,
emergency, emergency… shelter in place,” could be heard echoing throughout
Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany during a drill held here, Sept. 30, which
culminated the installation’s emergency preparedness month’s observance.
Jimmy Moody,
emergency dispatcher, Marine Corps Police Department, MCLB Albany, was the
voice of the mass notification system alerting base personnel, residents and visitors
to the installation of the onset of the shelter-in-place drill.
According to
Moody, the “Big Voice” was sounded for the drill to announce the potential threat
of an emergency situation on the installation.
“It’s used just
in case we have any type of emergency on base, such as a tornado or any other
type of disaster where we need to take shelter,” Moody said. “My role is to
announce any incident that will (help to) save lives on the base. At the end of
the activity, I announced that everything is clear and that (individuals) can
return to work safely.”
“We also announce
active shooter (threats), other types of emergencies or if we need individuals
to stay out of certain areas,” Moody added. “If I’m notified, I can communicate
(the threat) through the ‘Big Voice’ and also AtHoc.”
Moody said he’s
happy to be a part of the MCPD; to be so well trained and is pleased to be able
to provide such a critical service to MCLB Albany.
Installation
Emergency Manager, Steven Dancer, MCLB Albany, gave the purpose and an overview
of the PrepareAthon activities aboard MCLB Albany.
“September 30
(marked) the capstone event for our America’s PrepareAthon and we (conducted) a
shelter-in-place drill,” Dancer said. “The drill (was) based off of the theme
for this month, ‘Don’t Wait. Communicate.’ Communication is the hinge pin to
trying to get the information out so people are less likely to encounter danger
or a threat.
“In this case, if
we’re talking about shelter in place, it could be for one or two reasons,”
Dancer explained. “It could be because of hazardous material or CBRNE — chemical, biological, radiological,
nuclear and enhanced (conventional weapons) — terrorist event that has taken
place. (If) the cloud or downwind hazard area has fallen upon the installation,
sometimes it’s safer to shelter in place than it is to evacuate.
“So,
this drill is two-fold; one is to use the mass notification system to get the
word out,” Dancer continued. “We’re communicating through the ‘Giant Voice,’ ‘Little
Voice’ and ‘Outside Voice’ (as well as) with the text, email, phone and AtHoc.
“The
second point of it is for everybody to review the emergency action plan for their
office, to include the housing residents,” he added. “We passed out information
during our housing fair and (provided) a flyer for this. So, those are the
two-fold purposes for this drill. We’re communicating and we’re educating so
that everybody can make sure they’re good to go if something like this actually
happens.”
According
to Dancer, installation civilian-Marine personnel as well as active-duty
Marines were required to watch an eight-minute video and were advised to review
their emergency action plans in preparation for the activity.
The installation’s
shelter-in-place drill ran concurrently with active-duty Marines’ 2015
Operational Pause-required training, which took place in various locations
around the base.