Learning by doing
CARMEL – Emergency services providers were summoned to Carmel Fire Department headquarters Wednesday for a radiological incident.
A Garrison woman, home alone, fell while fleeing from her residence following the sounding of Indian Point warning sirens after a plume of radioactive material enveloped her neighborhood.
It was only a drill.
The exercise was monitored by representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and New York State officials.
The victim, in real life, Mary Iannarelli of Lake Carmel, a member of the Lake Carmel Fire Department, was made up with moulage that included a badly lacerated hand and severely bruised ankle.
When paramedics arrived from the EM STAR Ambulance Company, the victim was questioned, tested for radioactive material on her clothing and body before being placed on a stretcher and taken to Putnam Hospital Center for treatment. PHC serves as one of four hospitals within the 10-mile radius of Indian Point where victims of radioactivity would be taken in the event of a real calamity, the others being Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern-Rockland County and St. Luke’s Hospital in Newburgh. Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco and Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow serve as alternate sites.
