A damaged Cessna sat at Foothills Correctional Institution after prison officials faked its wreck as part of a Mass Casualty Incident Exercise on Wednesday
Josh Baker, center left, and Buddy Davis, center right, are captured during an exercise Wednesday at Foothills Correctional Institution. The men, both prison employees, were part of a mock prison escape.
MORGANTON -- A Wednesday morning plane crash at the prison left correctional officers and first responders scrambling to treat the injured and locate a pair of escapees.
Or at least that’s how it appeared to passersby who saw the emergency vehicles and road blocks near Foothills Correctional Institute in the Salem area.
The drama, however, was just pretend; Foothills Correctional was conducting its annual “Mass Casualty Incident Exercise” to train for if an actual incident occurs.
The scenario: A malfunction downs a Cessna at 8:30 a.m., with the small-engine plane crashing through the razor-wire fence and into the recreation field. The wreck kills and injures 15 prisoners and staff members and leaves way for two inmates to escape.
To execute the mockup, prison officials placed a plane and wreckage in the field for realism.
Local agencies were called in to simulate treating the injured and removing the bodies.
And they picked two staff members, who run marathons, to play the escapees.
It took about four hours from the initial crash to locate the prisoners and have all the injured and dead on their way to the hospital or morgue.
Larry Williams, assistant superintendent for programs and public information officer for Foothills Correctional, said the simulation helps keep prison staff and first responders ready for any major incident the prison may face.
“Today (Wednesday) we are conducting a multi-agency drill that will benefit not only this facility, but the many different agencies involved,” Williams said in a prepared written statement. “To create the most accurate and realistic response possible, management advised staff on a need-to-know basis. Therefore, the majority of the staff will be responding today (Wednesday) to what they believe is a real life situation.”
The exercise not only keeps prison staff sharp on how to react, but helps familiarize paramedics, firefighters and officers with the facility.
It also let a special N.C. Department of Correction team in Asheville practice tracking escapees, he said.
Participating agencies included: N.C. Department of Correction, N.C. State Highway Patrol, Burke County Sheriff’s Office, Salem Fire Department and Burke County EMS.
