LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The University of Kentucky conducted its largest emergency drill ever today near Kroger Field, with more than 650 participants taking part in a three-hour exercise designed to test the school's crisis response systems.
The drill simulated a car explosion at a game and involved police, fire, EMS crews and hospitals working together to test response times and coordination between agencies.
UK Police Chief Joe Monroe said the exercise took nine and a half months to plan.
"We had over 600-650 participants in this exercise so it's one of the largest ones in the region as well as the largest ever undertaken by the University of Kentucky," Monroe said.
The drill ran from 9 a.m. until noon and caused some parking disruptions around the stadium. Monroe emphasized that these exercises are crucial for emergency preparedness.
"Today is something that's very important to us because it gives us an opportunity to test our response, test our officers, test our partnerships with our other responding agencies here in the area," Monroe said. "It really gives us an opportunity to stress test our hospitals, as well as our transports from the fire department."
UK conducts different scenarios for each full-scale exercise. The last one simulated an active shooter in a classroom.
Monroe reminded the public to stay vigilant and report suspicious activity to law enforcement.
"One of the things we always tell the public is if you see something that looks out of the ordinary or suspicious, please make sure you report that to local law enforcement," Monroe said.
