BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- On Wed. at 10 a.m., the Kern County Airports Department facilitated a large-scale emergency response exercise at Meadows Field Airport.

The exercise evaluated countywide capability to respond to an aviation accident.

The FAA requires all commercial Part 139 airports complete a full scale exercise every three years and to conduct a table top exercise on the years in between to ensure compliance with FAA safety protocols.

Participating agencies included Kern County Airports Department, Kern County Fire Department, Kern County Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, Kern County Emergency Management Services, Kern Medical Center, Golden Empire Transit (GET) Bus, and Hall Ambulance.

The exercise involved a simulated commercial plane crash with 79 victims.

All agencies responded as if this were an actual event.

Numerous emergency vehicles and large numbers of emergency personnel were on the Meadows Field Airport airfield at the exercise site.

Actors portraying victims were triaged, treated, and transported from the simulated crash site as if this were an actual emergency.

The exercise was developed to effectively test and evaluate the response capabilities of all agencies that would likely be involved in a mass casualty incident, including incidents of terrorism, within Kern County.

The goal of the exercise was to familiarize emergency personnel with the limitations of working within the restrictions of an airport environment and to identify potential strengths and shortfalls; including the communication and coordination between different responding agencies that would impact the outcome in such an event.

The exercise was evaluated through input from all participants, including both successes and areas for improvement at a debriefing after the exercise.