Emergency service personnel for Brookhaven and Lincoln Countywere put to a special test last week during a mock disaster drillat the Government Complex.

And, we are glad to say, they received good marks from stateofficials who were here to observe.

Past drills have covered disasters such as tornadoes or trainderailments. This one tested how the agencies would respond to aterrorist attack at the courthouse. Emergency workers were forcedto deal with a hostage situation, a variety of simulated injuriesand reports of anthrax exposure.

Of course, emergency personnel all across America have beenforced to study terrorism scenarios since the Sept. 11, 2001,attacks. While this was the first actual drill for emergencyworkers here, officials had earlier conducted a joint meeting todiscuss protection against terrorism.

Other than some communication problems, officials were pleasedwith Tuesday’s test. Evidently, some agencies use high band radioswhile others use low band, which hampers their ability tocommunicate with each other. We hope the Lincoln County Board ofSupervisors and the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen will help solvethe problem, which one officials said was just a matter offunding.

As the last steel beam was removed from the World Trade Centersite and the clean up work there came to an end last week, thehorror of the attack was again put before us. So was the importance– and the valor — of the firefighters, the law officers, themedical personnel, the civil defense workers and the others who puttheir lives on the line for their fellow citizens.

We appreciate, and we thank, our emergency workers and those whohelped them for taking part in the drill. And, we thank them forall that they do to help keep our community safe.