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Seymour Johnson, Wayne County departments stay prepared during major accident response exercise

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Victoria Boyton, Airman 1st Class Kenneth Boyton
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Team Seymour teamed up with safety departments from Wayne County to participate in a Major Accident Response Exercise May 10.

MAREs are conducted annually to ensure Airmen maintain and improve existing response capabilities.

Exercise participants from the 4th Mission Support Group, 4th Medical Group and 4th Operations Support Squadron partnered with first responders from the Goldsboro Police Department and Wayne County Emergency Medical Services to test their ability to recover from incidents including aircraft accidents and terror attacks.

“The exercise is designed to test and evaluate our response plans in the event of a real-world incident,” said Maj. R. Justin Reynolds, 4th Fighter Wing Inspector General director of exercises.

By working together during the scenario, members of the 4th FW and the local community demonstrated the ability to respond to incidents in a coordinated manner.

“One of the major things we hope to gain from this exercise is to test and evaluate liaison between on-base and off-base emergency response,” Reynolds said. “If the need ever arose, we already know how to make it happen.”

The scenario simulated a knife and bomb attack. The 4th Security Forces Squadron detained the suspect, evacuated the scene and set up a perimeter around the area. Several 4th MDG and Wayne County EMS personnel exercised triage and crisis response efforts, rendering aid on scene.    

“Repetition is important; it breeds muscle memory,” said Master Sgt. Andrew J. Mathews, 4th SFS NCO in charge of operations. “If an incident happens, they’ll automatically know how to respond without hesitation.”

The exercise allowed members to see what improvements can be made to strengthen skills in the event of a crisis.

“If we have a solid plan and we respond appropriately, we will minimize any safety concerns,” Mathews said.