Wednesday, July 7, 2010

CAW Led OGP Exercise Series Continues with the Los Angeles County Executive Workshop Meeting

On Thursday, June 24th the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Asymmetric Warfare provided Subject Matter Experts for the Los Angeles County Executive Workshop Meeting at the County’s Emergency Center. The meeting was the second in a series to continue the exercise and training events leading up to the Functional Exercise for “Operation Golden Phoenix 2010”. In attendance for the combined exercise and training event were 35 key managers and executives fromLos Angeles County.

OGP
-10, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, is a training exercise that will explore the emergency response and management following the detonation of an improvised nuclear device in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

The Center for Asymmetric Warfare’s team was led by Scott Brewer, who is an expert in
emergency management. In addition to the NPS team, other experts from the Department of Public Health and DHS ICBRNE team provided presentations with a realistic scenario of what the county would face in the event of a nuclear bomb attack and what tools are available to responders and emergency managers.

Following the expert’s presentations, the participants were asked to discuss and explore a number of “policy level” issue that included responder safety, evacuations, public information and education and future planning needs.

As part of the program, the attendees were introduced to Integrated Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive program (ICBRNE). This technology allows multiple agencies to obtain, view and use real-time data from various sensors deployed in the field. The technology could be used to coordinate evacuations and help first responders work in non-contaminated areas following a terrorist attack.

“This is a low probability, high consequence event,” a top official at the event said. “We would not be doing the right thing for the citizen of Los Angeles County if we didn’t consider all the ramifications and consequences of such an attack and prepare for it.”

Officials were quick to point out that while they are investing a great deal of time and resources in Operation Golden Phoenix, there are no known threats to
Californiaor the County of Los Angeles. The attendees recognize the value in training events such as these to keep the departments communication open and to confirm assets, roles and responsibilities in the event of any disaster.

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