A full-scale exercise tested Redstone Arsenal’s response to a multitude of events Wednesday, with a simulated mass casualty incident, fires and a domestic terrorist attack.
“We’re still assessing our processes and procedures, but I feel confident our teams could successfully respond to unpredictable future events,” Garrison Commander Col. Brian Cozine said.
The daylong exercise was a chance for the Garrison’s Installation Emergency Operations Center and installation emergency responders, in conjunction with local first responders, to test their ability to respond and recover from a major disaster or incident.
“We want to enhance our ability to handle anything that’s an all-hazard type of scenario – a tornado, a mass casualty type of event,” Cozine said. “We were able to leverage that with a series of incidents to challenge our abilities but also to allow us to look at our processes in partnership with our surrounding communities and some of our tenants to determine how we can reduce risk to our tenants and the people who work on the installation.”
The drill, which is held every three years, was evaluated by a team made up of Installation Management Command-Sustainment Directorate installations, according to Ryan Campbell, Redstone’s installation emergency manager and the lead exercise planner from the Garrison.
Army Community Service personnel practiced assisting distraught community members seeking information about their family and friends who were involved in the simulated “mass casualty event.”
“It was a great opportunity for our organizations to train together and get used to responding with each other,” Campbell said. “From a training perspective, it was a success.”
The exercise included the simulated mass casualty event at NASA building 4631 on Raven Road, a “security event” at Gate 10, a small fire on Redstone Road near a solar farm, which left no injuries, and a chlorine gas leak.
A press conference on the incident was staged at the Gate 1 Visitor Center, where Cozine reported that the mass casualty event left seven people dead and 14 injured. Cozine was joined at the simulated briefing by Robert Simmons, the deputy fire chief at Redstone, and Jason Braxton, chief of the Directorate of Public Works’ Environmental Division. They each responded to questions from volunteers posing as news reporters.
“(The evaluators) will give us a final report on their findings,” Campbell said. “We must have our corrective action plan 60 days after we receive the final after-action report.”
Among outside agencies taking part in the exercise were Huntsville Fire & Rescue, Madison Fire & Rescue, Huntsville Hospital, Crestwood Hospital, HEMSI and the American Red Cross.
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