The Upper Cumberland Emergency Preparedness Expo returns this weekend to showcase regional safety assets and response capabilities.
DeKalb County Emergency Management Director Charles Parker said the event began as a resource to highlight equipment and services. Parker said the expo moved to the Smithville Airport this year to allow different counties across the Upper Cumberland to participate in the regional gathering.
“Candace McNeil from Tennessee Department of Health started this seven years ago,” Parker said, “To kind of showcase the asset in the Upper Cumberland area that we’ve acquired since 9/11.”
The event features approximately 60 vendors and a significant aviation presence including medical helicopters and local aircraft. Parker said flight crews from Erlanger, Vanderbilt, Ascension, and St. Thomas are expected to attend the event at the airport.
Parker said the State Fire Marshal’s Office will conduct a live side-by-side burn demonstration to illustrate the effectiveness of residential sprinkler systems. Parker said the demonstration uses a specialized trailer with two rooms to compare how quickly fire spreads through modern home furnishings with and without sprinkler protection.
“They light both of them at the same time and they do the progression of the fire to show how rapidly, uh, fire grows, and then it shows how quick the fire sprinklers do to extinguisher fire and the damage difference between the two,” Parker said.
Parker said the expo serves as a networking hub for fire, medical, and law enforcement agencies that must rely on mutual aid during major disasters. Parker said individual counties in the region often lack the total assets necessary to handle a catastrophic event alone.
“We share assets and resources with each other on a regular basis from day-to-day events to catastrophic events like tornadoes and stuff like that. So, it’s very crucial for these Upper Cumberland counties especially, because each county doesn’t really have enough assets to cover in a major event. So we rely on our neighbors every day for, you know, just day-to-day emergencies that pop up,” Parker said.
The public can access hands-on training for CPR, car seat safety, and pet preparedness to help build community resilience before professional help arrives. Parker said first responder resources are easily taxed during large-scale floods or windstorms, making personal “go kits” and emergency information vital for families.
“We want the general public to be aware what’s going on, be somewhat prepared and, you know, for the events, you know, that may happen, be it manmade or just the natural events. We want everybody to be prepared. And this day we want everybody to have fun, come out. The kids will love seeing the fire trucks, ambulances, police cars. They get to sit in them and we’ll pass out different things. We want them to come and have some good memories with all this stuff too,” Parker said.
Former Blue Angels commander Greg “The Boss” will serve as the keynote motivational speaker at 12pm. Parker said while a Blue Angels jet will not be on-site, the speaker will display flight gear used during his time with the elite naval flight demonstration squadron.