Chlorine spilled down K-15 Thursday morning. The dangerous chemical then spread over part of the city, forcing many Derby organizations and some schools to activate their emergency plans.
Some evacuated and some sheltered in place.

But they all were part of a training exercise put on by Sedgwick County Emergency Management and Derby USD 260.

Although the scenario is make-believe, the emergency plans are very real.

“It’s extremely beneficial to practice these sorts of things,” Derby Fire Chief Brad Smith said. “Even though we’re not in a hurricane zone, we do get hit with hail, wind, ice and tornadoes. The best thing we can do to protect our people is to practice like it’s the real thing.”

Thursday’s drill targets special needs facilities in Derby and their avility to react or take preventative measures during disasters.

El Paso Elementary School, Tanglewood Elementary School, Derby High Schol, Via Christi Rehabilitation Center, Derby Dialaysis Center, an Sterling House and a few other eldery residential homes all took part in the exercise.

All volunteered to be a part of the drill.

“After the chemcial leak takes place on K-15 and the chemical spreads over part of the city, the organizations will need to determine whether they should evacuate or shelter in place,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of make-believe, but we’ll help them determine things like, ‘If you’re 1/2 mile away from the chemical leak, you need to evacuate,’ or ‘If you’re one mile away, you need to shelter in place.’”

Although Derby first responders will not take part in the exercise, facilitators and evaulators from Derby Fire & Rescue, the Derby Police Department, and Emergency Medical Technicians will be on hand to evaulate each facility’s response and assist them in their decisions.

“”We’ll recommend what they should do,” Smith said. “It’s an opportunity for them to practice their own emergency response plan.”

When organizations shelter in place, they must seal off their business and protect the people inside – some who are non-ambulatory and cannot get outside and get to a vehicle to evacuate.

At Derby Dialysis for example, once patients are hooked up to dialysis machines, they cannot leave without that machine.

“They would be very limited tin what they can do,” Smith said.

USD 260 will evacuate El Paso Elementary to see how long it takes to move the students to another location.

Derby High School will shut down and shelter in place, as will Tanglewood Elementary.

“If we had a real leak, these facilities will have to take care of themselves,” Smith said. “First responders will be tied up and will be so busy cleaning up the leak and dealing with the emergencies that these facilities need this practice to give them, and us, and idea of what will happen and how the plans work.”

The training exercise couldn’t have come at a better time.

September is National Preparedness Month and cities all across the country are holding similar exercises. Approximately 30 facilities across the cityof Wichita will also be holding their own emergency drills.

Derby’s participation grew from the attendance of Derby officials in a tabletop exercise three monhts ago with Sedgwick County.

“This exercise is the follow-up to the tabletop exercise,” Smith said. “We needed to follow up with a real-life exercise. This is a good time to be doing this. The best thing we can do is practice.”