http://www.team8plus.org/forum_viewtopic.php?6.2133.40#2431
Arizona
"Coyote Crisis Campaign"
Thousands to drill for potential disaster in Valley
Kate Nolan
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 16, 2006 12:00 AM
Disaster looms for a Valley cadre that is planning the first
homeland security drill of its type, the Coyote Crisis Campaign.
The chief participants, Arizona's Army and Air National Guard,
General Dynamics, Scottsdale and Scottsdale Healthcare, started
meeting a year ago to plan for a regional response to terrorist
attacks or natural disasters.
That was before Hurricane Katrina in August tragically illustrated
the results of uncoordinated civilian, government and military
responses to disaster.
The project grew out of a partnership between the National Guard and
Scottsdale Healthcare, which trains Guard medical units.
Despite orange terrorism alerts since the Sept. 11 attacks, no broad
disaster plan had arisen involving government, military, academic
institutions and private industry, according to Coyote Crisis
Campaign leaders who intend for their project to become a model for
other regions.
The Coyote project is based on military opinion that a terrorist
attack will happen and the recognition by area civil and health
authorities that they may not be prepared for it, leaders say. The
disaster drill, to be held April 25-28, includes both live and
simulated events and involves Luke Air Force Base, Arizona State
University, Maricopa County and major utilities. The group will
present its plan to the Governor's Military Affairs Commission next
month.
Expected to involve 3,000 individuals, the disaster drill will
follow a fictional scenario as gut-wrenching as a Bruce Willis movie
for its explosions and carnage, the fictional outcomes of would-be
terrorist attacks on Hoover Dam and several local landmarks
including Scottsdale Fashion Square.
Organized as "cells" for the exercise, about 100 participants met in
Phoenix last week to assess readiness to deploy real resources such
as Blackhawk helicopters, VIP viewing areas and a 25-bed emergency
field hospital for assembly at the Papago Buttes National Guard
base.
Residents' normal activities will not be disrupted by the exercise,
but increased military air power can be expected over Scottsdale,
said Marc Eisen, the city's director of homeland security.
A snafu arose early among the various agencies, whose only
universally shared characteristic may be their penchant for boiling
down complicated technical terms into alphabet soup.
"Do not use acronyms today," instructed chief planner Mike Fallon,
as discussions began at Arizona Air National Guard
headquarters. "There are four different entities here with four
different languages."
Fallon, a General Dynamics executive who is a former Marine and
experienced planner of Marine training exercises, created the
disaster scenario, keyed to specific training goals for each of the
participants.
The disaster-response training will test the ability of civilian and
military authorities to function together in an extreme emergency
with more than 10,000 casualties. A Scottsdale Healthcare objective
is to test its extensive decontamination facilities.
"This is a mass casualty event with actors playing in significant
enough numbers to stress the system," Fallon said.
The fantasy plot thickens when explosions and toxins compromise
power and water sources.
The Katrina crisis illuminated communication gaps among first
responders when cellphone towers and power sources were disrupted.
The Coyote project will deploy emergency transmission facilities
provided by Verizon Wireless. General Dynamics, a major defense
contractor, is currently studying the problem; a spokeswoman said
the disaster drill might be instructive for developing new
technology.
The drill will also test the limits of the medical units and
evacuation plans for a neighborhood and the General Dynamics plant.
The military will provide personnel, air evacuation and medical
transport and an on-the-ground medical facility.
Several more weeks of training and fine-tuning will precede D-Day,
April 25.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0216disaster0
216.html
CA
"Operation Safe Passage"
If your radio starts blaring warnings about terrorist attacks today,
DO NOT PANIC - at least not until you've double-checked it against
some other news sources.
The redoubtable LAFD News & Info blog reports that police, fire and
other public-safety agencies in greater L.A. are running "Operation
Safe Passage" this morning - a disaster preparedness drill that
simulates terrorist attacks on regional airports ...
http://www.lavoice.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1530
Agency prepares for pandemic
Families volunteer for exercise
By Pam Wight Staff Writer
LA HABRA - Fearing a potential avian flu or common flu pandemic, a
local health-care institute took center stage Wednesday in a multi-
agency vaccination drill.
The La Habra-based Institute for Healthcare Advancement opened its
doors to 30 families who participated in the mock mass-vaccination
exercise.
Selected from the Head Start and Even Start Family Literacy
programs, the families filed through several stations, each one
designed to glean any potential health risks to vaccines.
IHA's participation marked the first time a community organization
joined the Orange County Health Care Agency and Prop 10's Children
and Families Commission of Orange County in such an effort.(Cont..)
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_3513992
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