EASTERN – Smoke billowed from the impact point between the school bus and the tanker truck as the screams of trapped passengers mixed with the sirens of emergency vehicles approaching from a distance.

Thankfully, this tragic scene was an exercise conducted by the Floyd County Local Emergency Planning Committee on Tuesday, near Allen Central High School.

“It’s a requirement for the responding agencies,” said Jane Bond, with the Floyd County Health Department. “We have first responders and fire departments arriving on scene. We wanted to get as many different people as possible involved.”

Members of the Garrett and Maytown Fire Departments removed the injured from the school bus and secured the scene while waiting on ambulances to arrive. Some of the participants were covered in gruesome makeup simulating lacerations and severe burns.

Emergency personnel loaded the injured into the ambulances and transported them to two local hospitals.

The Local Emergency Planning Committee holds mock disasters on an annual basis to gather and analyze data in an effort to monitor and improve the response time and care in these dangerous situations.

The road in front of the football field at Allen Central High School was blocked by emergency personnel to make room for fire trucks and ambulances, and to simulate what would occur if a real disaster such as a bus crashing into a tanker truck happened.

According to Bond, in the case of a real disaster in that specific area, the media would be asked to set up at Allen Central High School in order to avoid being in danger or impeding the work of rescue personnel.