Anhydrous Ammonia Disaster Exercise Held in Sheridan

An anhydrous ammonia disaster exercise was held in Sheridan Saturday morning to train emergency crews on what to do in the event that an accident happens involving anhydrous ammonia. Anhydrous ammonia is very dangerous material and in the worst case, people have to be evacuated upwind from the source in the event of a major leak. Sterling Hopkins, manager of Worth County MFA, said that the first step in an ammonia accident was to call him immediately so that he could notify corporate headquarters as well as have properly trained people to work with emergency crews. Ammonia in sufficient concentrations can overpower a person in as little as 20 seconds; during the training session, a video was shown of a responding officer who didn't realize the danger of ammonia and who was killed responding to an accident in 20 seconds. Ammonia is used as fertilizer for crops; however, it must be handled carefully by properly trained personnel.

Excess pressure can result in tank failure, which means that tank volume cannot exceed 85%. It is inflammatory to skin and it is dangerous to life and health in as little as 300 parts per million. Contact lenses can make it worse because they can trap the vapor; it is inflammatory to the eyes. In an ammonia accident, the emergency response is complicated because the victims must be placed in a tank of water to flush the anhydrous ammonia and minimize the effects. Dangerous concentrations of anhydrous ammonia can extend well beyond the visible vapors and it can easily be mistaken for ordinary smoke from a fire. Releases of more than 100 pounds must be reported to state and national authorities.

In the simulated accident, a car collided with an anhydrous ammonia tank resulting in two fatalities and people being thrown from the vehicle and ammonia leaking from the tank. The new Emergency Command Center that the county has was deployed in response. Another complication in dealing with anhydrous ammonia accidents is the fact that it takes 100 gallons of water for each gallon of ammonia to be contained. Therefore, fire departments must consider alternative water sources when dealing with ammonia releases. Vehicles must be placed upwind of the ammonia, runoff water must be controlled, and contaminated water must be disposed of.

For smaller releases, emergency authorities can have people stay in homes with windows closed. However, large incidents require immediate evacuations and appropriate roads closed off so that passing motorists are not exposed. Specialized protective gear must be worn and downwind operations should not be considered unless absolutely necessary. Even if anhydrous ammonia does not release right away in an accident, it can do so later.

The exercise itself involved donning protective equipment and treating a "victim" with a broken leg. Treatment requires washing the victim's eyes for 15 minutes if the eyes were exposed. The first priority is to get victims out as soon as possible, and then deal with the anhydrous leak. The Worth County Ambulance completed training requirements for many of its members back at the firehouse, where four more "victims" were. Mary Jo Riley role-played the part of a hysterical relative frantically trying to get information about one of the victims. The Sheridan CBC hosted a lunch for the volunteers afterwards. One of the biggest areas identified was the fact that two of the radios did not work on the appropriate frequency, something that Emergency Management Director Pat Kobbe said she was glad to discover during a drill and not during the real thing.