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Large-Scale Training Exercise This Week

While this issue of the Peninsula Pulse was still traveling back to Door County hot off the press, a large-scale training operation was taking place at the Door County Justice Center.

Door County Emergency Management, along with various emergency response agencies and the Wisconsin Complex All-Hazard Incident Management Team (AHIMT), were conducting the functional training exercise Dec. 8-9 from 8 am to 5 pm at the Door County Justice Center, 1201 Duluth Ave., Sturgeon Bay, Wis. 

Andy Bertges, Gibraltar Fire Chief and training coordinator for the federal/state/local interagency emergency responders, said the scenario would not be divulged until the actual day and that it would train for Door County’s unique characteristics. 

“Door County is unique in that access to the county is very limited due to the county being a peninsula and surrounded by water along most of its borders,” Bertges said in a statement about the training. “A large-scale incident will pose many risks and difficulties for the limited emergency responders in the area, many of whom are volunteers.”

This exercise is intended to provide local, state and federal participants an opportunity to assess capabilities, plans, policies and procedures. It focuses on decision-making, coordination and integration with other organizations and prepares the county for a large incident in the future.

AHIMT is a multi-agency, multi-jurisdiction team for extended all-risk incidents. The team’s approach is to successfully support or manage major incidents requiring a significant number of local, regional, state and possibly federal resources. This could include incidents such as tornados, earthquakes, fires, floods, search and rescue, multi-day situations or planned mass-gathering events. The purpose of the AHIMT is to assist any jurisdiction confronted with an incident beyond its capabilities in either complexity or duration. 

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