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Massive Rescue Exercise Coordinated by MAPC staff

During the month of September, a massive three-day terrorism-based emergency response exercise was held at Joint Base Cape Cod. The exercise was funded by the Massachusetts Homeland Security Regions with grant money received from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. MAPC’s Municipal Collaboration Assistant Director, Amy Reilly and MAPC’s Senior Homeland Security Coordinator, Tim Moore, played a vital role in the funding and planning of this event.

The exercise brought together more than 300 fire personnel from across Massachusetts who serve on five regional technical rescue teams, National Guard troops, and staff from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and state hazardous materials teams. Many senior fire service officials were also there to witness the event along with the Secretary of Public Safety and Security and the Undersecretary for Homeland Security. The exercise aimed to improve the skills and coordination of these teams in responding to structural collapses and related emergency rescue scenarios. Click here to view a debrief presentation given by Amy and Tim at our Executive Committee Meeting.

Two table top exercises for technical rescue team members also took place earlier in the month. These tabletops were funded by the Southeast Homeland Security Regional Advisory Council and were developed and facilitated by Tim Moore, with the support of Amy Reilly and MAPC’s Grants Management and Procurement Specialist, Christine Howe.

Coordinating these events has broadened the experience of MAPC’s Municipal Collaboration team in exercise planning and facilitation.  While the team has helped coordinate exercises in the past, they have never been at this scale before! The team hopes to continue to assist communities in exercising emergency response capabilities in the future.