The Lawrence County Emergency Management Agency has been accepted to conduct and complete a new program aimed at implementing a single, cohesive response plan in the event of a large-scale emergency.

The Ohio State Capability Assessment for Readiness (OSCAR)

will bring together all public and private agencies and assess their functions and what part each one would play if Lawrence County suffers a disaster.

"We try to involve everyone we can think of,"Ohio Emergency Management Agency South Central Field Liaison Bob Clark said. "The agencies and organizations that attend this will have an eye opener on what their response could be. It's just a good learning experience."

Not only government agencies have been asked to take part in OSCAR. Hospitals, cultural organizations, funeral directors, utilities and even media organizations have been invited to participate.

"We'll come into the county, sit down and go over the process," OSCAR Coordinator Renee Young said. "There are 447 questions we go through. We look at the whole county. The purpose is to see where you are and where you need to improve."

The OSCAR exercise is tentatively slated for Oct. 23- 24. Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune