Palm Beach County emergency managers recently took part in a training exercise involving an incident at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant.
Participating agencies included Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, the Sheriff’s Office, Public Safety, Public Affairs, the West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Delray Beach fire departments, the Palm Beach County Health Department, and the American Red Cross.
Palm Beach was one of five counties participating in the biennial exercise, which simulated protective measures each would take if a real emergency were to occur at the plant. Palm Beach County’s role was that of receiver for St. Lucie County residents who had to be evacuated. Emergency response personnel from various federal, state and local agencies gathered at an open field near the Mound Circle Pavilion in John Prince Park where processing stations were set up. Students posing as evacuees, along with their pets were screened for radiation exposure, then decontaminated and treated for injuries, if necessary, and assigned to temporary shelter.
Observers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were on site for required evaluations. The Emergency Operations Center was activated, and representatives from most county departments were involved.