Fort Monmouth hosts disaster response exercise

A disaster preparedness exercise was scheduled to take place at Fort Monmouth Thursday with more than 150 people representing 40 agencies from the local, county, state and federal levels.

The Timely Alert VI Tabletop Exercise scenario was a continuation of the nationwide avian flu pandemic that began in Timely Alert V held here in October with the additional focus of a category three Hurricane Francis rapidly moving up the New Jersey coast.

The exercise was part of a series of exercises conducted there over the past seven years to test the preparedness of Fort Monmouth's emergency management planning and coordination with federal, state and regional organizations in managing emergency situations.

"When we conduct exercises, we have to train to the worst-case scenario so when a disaster does strike, we will have the knowledge that our plans work and we have the capability to respond in a timely manner to save the maximum amount of lives and property," said Fort Monmouth Garrison Cmdr. Col. Ricki L. Sullivan.

The exercise examined evacuation in accordance with Monmouth County's Reverse Lane plan, interagency incident coordination, medical facility and health-care provider capabilities for evacuation or shelter-in-place of contagious patients and quarantined people, continuity of operations and government, public information and technology.

Guest speakers included Steve Crimando, director of training, disaster and terrorism branch, state Division of Mental Health Services, discussing the impact of stress management on first responders. Neil Norrell, an environmental scientist from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was to speak on federal assistance and long-term cleanup issues.

Along with several U.S. Army Garrison Fort Monmouth directorates, federal participants included the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command and U.S. Army Communications Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center focused on continued support to soldiers during a relocation to an alternate site.

Participating State of New Jersey offices included the Office of Homeland Security Preparedness, Department of Health and Senior Services and state police.

Monmouth County participants included the Office of Emergency Management and Health Department Offices of emergency management from 14 municipalities including Eatontown, Fair Haven, Highlands, Little Silver, Long Branch, Monmouth Beach, Manalapan, Oceanport, Shrewsbury, Tinton Falls, Rumson, Red Bank and West Long Branch were also expected to participate.

Medical participants included the Monmouth Medical Center, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Riverview Medical Center, Tinton Falls Rehab Hospital, Ocean Medical Center, Patterson Army Health Clinic, the Visiting Nurses Association and the American Red Cross.