Employees At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int'l Airport Demand Training For Emergency Situations
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Employees at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport met with county commissioners Tuesday, demanding that workers be taught what to do in emergency situations.
This comes a month shy of the one year anniversary of the deadly FLL shooting where five people were killed and six were injured.
Union service workers point out that major airports are beginning to train employees about what to do in mass casualty events.
Many workers recall FLL incident, saying passengers were looking to them for direction.
"When we start running they follow us because we wear the badge and uniform," said airport worker Medjhie Bissanthe. "When I stop and say, 'Where are we going?' and the passengers say, 'We follow you guy cause you work in there. You have to show us where to go.' We say, 'We don't know where to go.'"
The union hopes the county will come up with a 40-hour training program that requires employers to pay workers while they undergo instruction.
Related: BSO Releases 99-Page Report On How FLL Shooting Could've Been Handled Better
Earlier this month, the Broward County Aviation Department did a test run of their emergency response.
The scenario involved two commercial aircraft colliding near the north runway and crews transporting injured passengers to holding areas.
More than 13 agencies took part in the exercise.