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Homeland Security Class Teaches First Effective Response Tactics

In Marshall County, first responders from around the Northern Panhandle came together Wednesday for training in homeland security techniques, and how to react if a situation in the Ohio Valley should occur.

A group of officials from around the Mountain State and the Northern Panhandle came together for the two day class at the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville.

Officials from the health department, office and National Guard were among the many on hand.

They were here today for an interface class-- learning how to coordinate properly in the event of an emergency.  Emergencies like a house fire, major flood, hurricane and tornado were discussed.

The two day class is broken up for small scale incident to large scale incident, today being small scale.

While we were there, first responders were given scenarios to work on in teams.  These scenarios were anything from a fire at a hospital, ship fire in a bay and a colosseum collapse.

"It's important that we're prepared.  We don't want to wait until we have a disaster, tornado, flood and try to prepare after that.  We're trying to get ahead of the game here," Resa Instructor and Brooke County EMA Director Bob Fowler said.

Fowler said he also taught his students about the planning and resources that go into handling an incident.

Thursday is day two of the class at the penitentiary, and students will have the chance to learn about large scale incidents and how they should react, if a homeland security issue should occur.