Volunteers needed for September CSEPP Exercise

Lexington’s Division of Emergency Management needs volunteers to play victims and/or evacuees during the upcoming Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) exercise.  The annual exercise tests Lexington’s readiness and ability to respond effectively to an accident involving chemical agents stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

More about CSEPP

The exercise will take place on Wednesday, September 20, 2017 from 8:30am to noon. Not all volunteers will be needed the entire time. To make the exercise as realistic as possible, 100 volunteers are required for a variety of roles. The exercise especially needs foreign language speakers and adults with disabilities.

The CSEPP exercise is an annual event involving 10 counties.  In Fayette County, there are exercise activities at several locations including Jacobson Park, a Red Cross Shelter, and local hospitals.

This is a great opportunity to help our community responders, receivers, and support agencies prepare, not only for a CSEPP event, but also for weather-related natural disasters or other community emergencies.

Students in the health care field find that volunteering in these exercises provides a rich learning experience, especially since it gives the providers experience from the patient’s viewpoint. It’s a great opportunity for actors as well.

As a volunteer, you would pretend to be someone impacted by either a chemical agent or a trauma, such as a car accident, or simply someone displaced from their home.  Volunteers are not required to ‘get dirty.’   However, some volunteers are assisted with make-up or moulage with pretend blood and other simulated injuries.  Some volunteers may select to require decontamination, where you wear a bathing suit to the exercise and go through a very specific type of shower.

If you, or your group, are interested in volunteering for the exercise, please contact Candy Brunk at cbrunk@lexingtonky.gov or call 859-402-4309 for more information.

More information about emergency preparedness is available from the Division of Emergency Management website available at: www.BeReadyLexington.com. Information about the division is also available through the Lexington Emergency Management Facebook page @Lexington KY Emergency Management and the Division of Emergency Management Twitter account: @Lexkyem.