Preparing for Disaster: The County Works with National Guard
 The
threat of a terrorist attack took on a sense of realism on
Wed., Aug. 21 at the Pensacola Civic Center during a domestic
security drill conducted by the Florida National Guard 44th
Civil Support Team (CST) and the Escambia County Department
of Public Safety.
The
Civic Center was the target for a simulated mass contamination
during a “sold out” concert. Nearly 100 Navy
student-volunteers represented thousands of concert-goers
suffering from nausea, coughing, and burning skin.
The
student-volunteers had to go through decontamination
units, triage, and were then transported to local hospitals,
as part of the exercise. The 44th CST was called in
to find the source of the contamination and identify
the agent.
 More
than 30 agencies and organizations were involved in the exercise
including city and county fire services, EMS, 911 communication
centers, law enforcement, all local hospitals, and HazMat
teams from Pensacola Naval Air Station and Solutia.
“The
exercise provided local emergency response agencies
the opportunity to work with the Florida National Guard’s
44th CST. This team, based at Camp Blanding near Jacksonville,
provides critical technical expertise to assist local
governments during domestic security emergencies,”
said Michael Hardin, emergency management division chief
for the Escambia County Department of Public Safety.
The
drill was part of a three-day exercise. The 44th CST
offered classroom training the day prior to the drill
and a tabletop exercise was held more than three weeks
ago at the County’s Emergency Operations Center.
 “The
teamwork was excellent. The exercise demonstrated the need to
establish a command post as soon as possible so that agencies
can be deployed. Effective communication and coordination between
agencies is important to the success of the incident,”
said Janice Kilgore, Escambia County’s director of public
safety.
 The
Florida National Guard 44th CST conducts these types of exercises
throughout the state in an effort to increase local preparedness
to handle emergencies.
“We
want to make sure that local emergency response teams
around the state are better prepared to take action
and have the proper training to handle domestic security
incidents on their own. Tomorrow, we’ll be in Key
Largo,” said Sgt. Gregory Gay with the 44th CST.
For more information, please contact Michael
Hardin, Emergency Management Division Chief, at
the Department of Public Safety at 595-3311.
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