Wayne County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is preparing to help protect the community from what at one time would be thought unthinkable in a small town: bio-terrorism and mass shooting rampage.
Frank Smith, EMA Coordinator, said referring to shooting incidents, “It’s only a quirk of fate that it hasn’t happened here.”
He was addressing the Local Emergency Management Committee (LEPC) at their quarterly meeting Wednesday. The LEPC gathers information on hazardous materials, analyzes risks to the community and develops strategies for an effective emergency response.
Three courthouses in Pennsylvania, - in Pike, Schuylkill and Jefferson counties- on the same day in early November, received identical letters containing a simple message: “How do you spell “A-N-T-H-R-A-X?”  The envelopes were postmarked in Jacksonville, Florida.  Smith said that no suspicious substance was found, but the hoax led to emergency responses in each county. Each of the counties reacted a little differently.  Smith said that there should be a standard protocol, and pressed his point at a conference with Pa. Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) last week.
Since then, he learned that counties will be informed of a possible threat.
The Pocono Record quoted a U.S. Post Office spokesman, stating that there have been about 19,000 similar threats in the mail since the anthrax scare targeting Congress or the media, in October 2001. All have been false alarms or hoaxes.
Steven Price, Wayne County EMA Operations/Training Officer, displayed test kits the County has purchased to investigate anthrax scares as well as other biological agents- Ricen, Botulism, Y. Pestis and SED.  If a suspicious substance were opened in a mail room, once alerted, the local EMA would be dispatched. Either Price or Director Smith would respond, and wearing a protective suit, would apply a sample of the substance to the small testing unit. Within 15 minutes, the unit would identify if the substance is any of the biological hazards. He said the test is “99.9 percent accurate.”
The immediate area, where the mail was opened, would have to be locked down with the people that were there at the time. Price said that the 15 minute test is a lot better than the hours that some people have had to wait while a responding agency was on its way. If the test proved positive, he would test it again, and in the meantime, the FBI and police would be alerted.
Smith stated that this is their protocol, pending any directive from PEMA.
Wayne County Commissioner Brian Smith, who chairs the LEPC, said that the County has moved its mailroom to the Park Street Complex building in a location which has its own entrance and exit. If there was an emergency, he said this would limit the chance of exposure to anyone else in the building.
Frank Smith related that he was told by the Post Office that 99.9 percent of mail has been irradiated before it is delivered, and if there were anthrax, the spores most likely would have been killed.
The testing kit, he said, should offer “some degree of comfort” for the public in a suspicious incident. “It’s a real problem, and it won’t get any better with the economy the way it is.”
To educate employers and workers about what to do in a shooting incident, Frank Smith said that posters have been purchased to advise what to do. “Awareness is number one,” he said. “Know your vulnerabilities... identify exits.”  Posters will be given to County department heads. The LEPC hopes to reach out to the business community as well.
Wayne County EMA may be contacted at (570)253-1622.

Three townships yet to adopt plan
HONESDALE - The Wayne County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), Wednesday, also discussed:
• Three townships out of 28 municipalities have so far failed to adopt the County-wide hazard mitigation plan, said Frank Smith, Wayne County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) coordinator. The highly detailed plan is required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in order for FEMA funds to be made available should a disaster declaration take place. Municipalities have the option of adopting their own. Smith will contact the townships- Cherry Ridge, Paupack and Lehigh, to see what their intentions are, or the plan will be reproduced without them.
• Commissioner Brian Smith advised that County EMA representatives attend the next core group meeting with fire department officials, to address any potential communication breakdowns given frequent turnover of volunteers.
• The National Guard will be designating a liaison to work with the County.
• Law enforcement representation will be sought to help serve on the LEPC, which also includes emergency responders, public officials, and representatives of firms storing hazardous materials, and others.
• Alan Highhouse recommended careful reading of numbers on placards posted on fuel tanks or structures, to inform fire departments in an emergency of the type of fuel being stored.