HANOVER, Va. – On Wednesday, May 24, 2017, the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with Hanover Fire-EMS, Hanover County Emergency Communications, and Kings Dominion, will conduct an Emergency Preparedness Drill at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia.
The drill will be a full-scale emergency exercise designed to help participating agencies prepare for an actual active threat incident. Emergency responders will have the opportunity to test their response and their equipment should a similar event actually occur.
“The goal of this exercise is to enhance interagency response and communication during an incident that involves an active threat to the public while engaging and educating our community,” said Colonel David R. Hines, sheriff.
“Opportunities like this don’t present themselves every day and we are ecstatic to partner with Kings Dominion to help facilitate this specialized training. We look forward to testing our existing plans and capabilities through this hands-on training with our public and private partners,” said Chief of Fire-EMS, Jethro Piland.
“An exercise for this type of event is the best training available to help prepare emergency personnel to react quickly and effectively in dynamic emergency situations. After-action reports and participant feedback from this exercise will be invaluable and assist in improving our existing plans and developing future training opportunities,” said Curtis Shaffer, Director of Hanover Emergency Communications.
“Hosting drills like this builds upon our strong partnership with local law enforcement,” said Gary Chadwick, Kings Dominion General Manager and Vice President. “It gives us an opportunity to provide a dynamic, unique environment that allows first responders to train for real-life circumstances.”
Throughout the day, the public can expect to see high volumes of emergency response personnel and vehicles in the area of Kings Dominion. There will be no public access to the park during this time.
