Albany High students, authorities conduct disaster drill at school

ALBANY, Ga. — A disturbed teacher lobs a tear gas grenade into Albany High School’s Gym, which is packed with students. As the grenade emits a white cloud of noxious gas, students begin to complain of burning eyes and throats.

That’s when the Albany High Emergency Response team springs into action.

The 75-member team, in coordination with the Dougherty Emergency Medical Service, Dougherty County police Department, Albany Fire Department and Dougherty School System Police Department conducted a full scale practice drill Thursday under such a scenario.

“Our student team set up decontamination and triage with guidance from the EMS, DCPD, AFD and DCSSPD,” team coordinator Melinda Suber said. “We had 75 students from three different school programs (homeland security, law and criminal justice, and Emergency medical services) participate.

“The drill went great. We’ve been training all year and it went better than we hoped it would.”

In addition to the training, Suber said the drill also showcased what the kids were capable of.

“Our job is to get these kids career-ready,” Suber said. “We wanted to show what our kids could do and we made it as really as possible.

“Like I said before, things went great.”