Jacobson Park Closed for CSEPP Exercise on Sept. 19

DEM Blogger

September 14, 2018

As part of its county-wide preparedness effort and its participation in the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP), Lexington’s Division of Emergency Management, along with other public safety, health and medical, transportation and social service agencies, will conduct a disaster exercise at Jacobson Park on Wednesday, September 19, 2018.

The exercise will begin at approximately 8:30 a.m. and will conclude by 2 p.m. Jacobson Park will be closed to the public during that time. There will be increased traffic in the area of the park that will include police and fire department vehicles as well as Lextran buses.

The Lexington exercise is part of a ten-county CSEPP activity that will simulate an accident involving chemical agents stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond. In addition to activities at Jacobson Park, several local hospitals and social service agencies will also participate in the exercise.

“We conduct trainings and smaller exercises throughout the year, but this annual exercise gives all of the parties involved in CSEPP a chance to work together and test the various response actions that would be used if there was a real emergency,” said Patricia Dugger, Director of Lexington Emergency Management. “We will have more than 100 Lexington public safety staff involved in this exercise as well as members of social service and health care agencies.”

Dugger says that this year’s exercise is especially important. “We expect that chemical agent neutralization processing in Richmond will start sometime next summer. With that in mind, we want to make sure that we’re ready for a chemical agent emergency or any other emergency that could affect Fayette County residents.”

The Lexington emergency operations center will coordinate Fayette County exercise activities, while other county emergency and public safety agencies will participate in the exercise in several locations. The Madison County Emergency Management agency will coordinate exercise activities there as well as at the Blue Grass Army Depot. More information about the CSEPP program is available at www.BeReadyLexington.com/CSEPP/. The BeReadyLexington.com website features resources on preparedness, awareness and how to be ready for an emergency. Information is also available on the DEM Facebook page – LexingtonKYEM – and also on Twitter – @lexkyem.