Airex Training

          Emergency responders throughout San Diego County participated in an anti-terrorism exercise required by the Federal Aviation Administration on October 26. The training, evecuted every three years, was conducted at the Naval Training Center near Lindberg Field. A number of fire agencies and ambulance providers, including Rural/Metro Ambulance, were thrown into a mass casualty drill aimed to prepare crews should a catastrophe occur at Lindberg. With more than 80 ambulances dispatching daily, Rural/Metro was an integral part of the simulation. 

     This year’s exercise revolved around an aircraft incident in which more than 80 victims were in an aircraft that was unable to stop and ended up in the waterway at the west end of the runway at Lindberg Field. All victims, which of course were healthy volunteers, had a wide variety of injuries from fatalities, impaled objects, amputations, burns and jet fuel contamination. More than 67 victims were simulated as being rescued from the waterway by buoys placed in the water prior to the start of the exercise. These victims were triaged, treated and transported by the participating agencies.

            Rural/Metro is proud to be the county’s largest ambulance provider, and we are always prepared and at-the-ready for worst-case scenarios.