THIS IS AN EXERCISE!!!The Vigilant Guard exercise that simulates a significant earthquake in Erie County and Western New York got underway early Monday morning, November 2, 2009.
Our entire Emergency Services team is involved in coordinating and participating in this week-long scenario that involves National Guard troops from across the northeast and first responders from around the world.
An Emergency Operations Center has been established at the Erie County Emergency Services Training & Operations Center in Cheektowaga NY with more than 100 emergency management personnel converging to handle the made-up disaster. A "Sim-Cell" constantly injects realistic problems into the scenario, allowing the role players to exercise their skills and come up with creative solutions to the challenges they're presented.
The exercise includes training venues in Erie and Niagara Counties including the cities of Buffalo, Lockport and Tonawanda.
A simulated rubble pile was engineered and created in less than three weeks at the Spaulding Fiber site on Wheeler Street in Tonawanda. The pile includes huge chunks of concrete as well as other debris including crushed cars and medical equipment. Rescuers burrow threw the debris looking for simulated victims, some digging in as far as 35 ft. from the outside perimeter of the pile. A separate smaller pile allows rescuers to locate and retrieve live victims.
More than 400 responders and guardsmen worked the rubble pile on Tuesday. Firefighters and USAR (Urban Search & Rescue) Specialists from across New York State, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Alaska, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Massachusetts are heavily engaged, receiving experience and training that is unparalleled. International partners have come from Canada, Denmark and the UK for the week - sharing their experiences and taking home an invaluable exchange of information.
The scene is rich with the brotherhood of the fire service and the emergency services community with first responders from all disciplines and locales enjoying creating new friendships and revisiting old ones.
We've uploaded Monday's photos from the pile to our Flickr.com account at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40216465@N03/collections/72157622601194813/
And, our ESU Facebook page has been updated as well:
Stay tuned here and to these pages for frequent updates from the field and the EOC.
VIGILANT GUARD EXERCISE IN THE NEWS:
National Guard Vigilant Guard Site and Journal
Tonawanda News
WIVB-TV Channel 4
WNY ShutterBug
THIS IS AN EXERCISE!!!
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