You may have noticed emergency vehicles all over downtown Davenport, or you saw SWAT team members in hazmat suits walking through the front gates of Modern Woodmen Park.
There’s no need to worry, though – it’s just a drill.
On Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014, Hazmat teams and emergency responders from across the state of Iowa came together for a training exercise.
“We do this on an annual basis in order to bring our disciplines together to make one common goal and that is to protect life, safety, and protect ourselves,” says Captain Ron Burchette with the Davenport Fire Department.
Captain Burchette says the exercises prepare the teams for possible terrorist attacks. This year’s staged incident involved chemical weapons in the ballpark.
“We hope that we can get a common goal and that we can work more solidarity together in order to mitigate the scenes so we can work out the kinks and get things so we can and do it at a faster pace and be safe at it and do it the right way.”
The day-long drill included agencies from Cedar Rapids, Iowa State Patrol, and others.
