| Simulacro | ||||||
Friday I asked to attend an emergency management simulation sponsored by Ecopetrol, an oil mining and export company. An underground pipeline passes through the outskirts of Aracataca following a right of way along with a small electricity transmission line. The simulation was a ruptured pipe located right next to Rio Aracataca, which flows down from this point into the city approximately 3 miles away and is the primary water supply for many 10s of thousands of people. In addition to the challenge of plugging the hole in the line, two people (soldiers) simulated being injured and lie on the ground near the leak. I joined a group of observers watching the process and taking notes of things done well or poorly. It was an all morning affair, particularly as the response time for the ambulance was one-hour. The poor soldiers assigned to simulating injuries were left lying in the field for an hour. The ants here can be very troublesome, and they got up a few times to stretch until the health worker arrived. After the health workers arrived and removed the injured, a team came down to simulate blocking the leak. Apparently they do so by pound special wood stakes into the holes. They then apply a wrap-around patch until a permanent welded patch can be applied. The final phase was to put floats in the water to reduce damage from oil to the river. That was completed about two hours after the leak was detected. The site is barely in cell phone range. I´m not sure how they could respond quickly without cell phone coverage.
The elements of effective emergency response exist. They would have had a much more difficult time in a real disaster, with oil everywhere, a line buried underground rather than on the surface, and possibly more public onlookers. The road getting to this site is only wide enough for one vehicle. They would have needed to post police or army at several points to regulate traffic, also possibly without the benefit of a radio system. It sure beats sitting in the office. |
