Naples to be site of training ex

Naples to be site of training exercise

February 27, 2014

By Mike Meier
Boundary County Public Information

The Boundary County Office of Emergency Management, in conjunction with the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security, will be hosting a full scale training exercise on Friday in and around the Naples School.

In recent days, many area residents have seen unusual activity in the area as equipment and supplies have been staged for the event.

The training will involve first responders from fire, ambulance, law enforcement, support agencies, Boundary Community Hospital and others, including a handful of Naples Elementary students to add realism to the event, which will play out from 9 a.m. to around 3 p.m.

This exercise is a full scale, and exercise play is limited to participating emergency response agencies and approved Naples School students and staff members.

The mission of the exercise will involve response to a staged scenario, and incorporate core capabilities including planning, operational communications, environmental response, public health and safety and public information and warning.

A full scale exercise is a great way for emergency response organizations to identify what they do well and to identify improvement areas to build on. First responders have participated in numerous table top exercises in the past, and a full scale exercise takes it to the next level.

Safety considerations are built in to handle real life emergencies that may occur during the full scale exercise.

To find out more, call Dave Kramer, (208) 255-6073.

Editor's note: Except for the above, submitted February 24 and not previously published due to illness, News Bonners Ferry has had no pre-warning of the exercise and I have no idea of the nature of the event to be staged or if this site will be included as part of the public notification portion of the training. If contacted, I will use all means at my disposal to add to the realism of the training, reporting as notified and employing disclaimers only as instructed or allowed. Such training opportunities are not beneficial only to the agencies tasked with emergency response, but for the media and the community as a whole in reacting effectively to a crisis situation.