Simulated emergency training this week

If you spot low-flying military-style choppers this week in the skies above Oconee, Pickens and Greenville, it’s likely to be special training benefitting both local and state public safety responders.  Oconee First Responders will be training this week with SC-HART–the South Carolina Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team.  The training scenarios will include low-flying National Guard Black Hawk and Lakota helicopters, with local emergency services personnel acting as survivors, some harnessed and on safety lines.  Scott Krein of Oconee Emergency Services says this is the kind of training that simultaneously benefits both local and state responders.  According to Krein, this exercise is designed to prepare teams for real emergencies, such as those that the higher elevations of the upstate counties often present.