AIKEN - As panicked calls about a train crash rolled in from Graniteville, dispatchers and police worked efficiently setting up roadblocks and controlling traffic within the first 15 minutes.

Incident commanders hurriedly agreed that residents near the Jan. 6 crash site and chlorine spill should remain sheltered rather than evacuate.

But when it came time to alert residents, emergency officials were forced to wait. Only personnel within Aiken County's Emergency Management Division had access to phone technology that could call and notify civilians.

The first two responses were listed as "strengths" in an 11-page report card released Monday on the Aiken County Sheriff's Office's handling of the accident.

The third response was listed as an "improvement item," which officials have since taken measures to correct. The device can now be activated by dispatch or an authorized incident commander.

Correcting such oversights and highlighting what was done right during the Graniteville response were the aims of the agency's review, Sheriff Mike Hunt said.

Members of the sheriff's office pointed out both the good and the bad to Bob Steadman, a senior emergency preparedness specialist with Westinghouse Savannah River Co. who prepared the "after action report."

Mr. Steadman organized separate reports for the Graniteville-Vaucluse-Warrenville Volunteer Fire Department and emergency agencies, which are expected to be complete by Wednesday. He said he recorded only how officials assessed their own responses and did not insert his own opinion.

The magnitude of what happened in Graniteville - nine people died, hundreds were injured and more than 5,000 people were evacuated when a Norfolk Southern locomotive struck cars that contained chlorine gas - has attracted interest from police, fire and emergency agencies across the country that want to know how it was handled.

"People are learning from it," said Chief Phil Napier of the GVW Volunteer Fire Department.

The review of the sheriff's office generally gives the agency high marks across the board. But there were shortcomings.

The county lacks a fortified emergency operations center with updated technology, relying instead on its rundown county council building on Richland Avenue. During the disaster, the operations center served as the nerve center for emergency personnel and support agencies including the Red Cross and United Way.

Sheriff Hunt said that a new command center was the "most significant" finding from the report and that he would push to get funds for it. He pointed out that it took emergency officials more than an hour to set up communications equipment at the county council building on the morning of the disaster and that many counties have modernized command centers dedicated to emergency response.

Other needed improvements:

- The review notes that early reports about the incident weren't shared with all responders because some were using 800 MHz radios and others weren't.

- The coroner's office wasn't equipped with protective clothing needed to enter the evacuation zone.

- The county doesn't have a written recovery plan that outlines reimbursement to assisting agencies or animal control in an evacuated area.

The upbeat theme throughout the report mirrors what many officials who responded to the disaster said afterward.

"As a whole, the train accident and response that followed went very well," Sheriff Hunt said.

Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 648-1395, ext. 113, or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.