Barnstable County Emergency Shelter Coordinator Phil Burt kicks off the drill at Falmouth High School.
FALMOUTH – On Saturday, April 22, 2017, the Barnstable County Regional Emergency Shelter Program (BCRESP) conducted an Emergency Shelter Drill from 10 a.m. to noon at Falmouth High School.
Falmouth High School is one of six designated BCRESP sites. The others are Sandwich High School, Barnstable Intermediate School, Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School in Yarmouth, Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich, and Nauset Regional High School in Eastham.
The drill was designed to exercise the Barnstable County Regional Emergency Shelter Plan at Falmouth High School and test individual volunteer group readiness and overall interoperability of the emergency shelter partners and their primarily volunteer staffs.
Falmouth CERT managing the registration desk at the emergency shelter drill at Falmouth High School.
Shelter Partners
The following emergency shelter partners participated: AmeriCorps Cape Cod; American Red Cross Cape, Islands and Southeast Massachusetts Chapter; Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES); Barnstable County All Hazards Incident Management Team (BCAHIMT); Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee (BCREPC); Cape Cod Disaster Animal Response Team (CCDART); Falmouth Community Emergency Response Team (CERT); Cape Cod Medical Reserve Corps (MRC); Falmouth Fire, Falmouth Police; Falmouth High School Facility Management; and the Falmouth Local Emergency Planning Committee.
Cape Cod Medical Reserve Corps and Falmouth Fire Rescue assist a “victim” at the emergency shelter drill at Falmouth High School.
Overview
The drill simulated the mobilization, operation, and demobilization of the Barnstable County Regional Emergency Shelter sited at Falmouth High School based on the Regional Emergency Shelter Plan and locally specific protocols. The BCREPC Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC)—operated by BCAHIMT—was activated as part of the drill. In real-world events, MACC activation is a prerequisite for regional emergency shelter activation. As part of the drill, each shelter partner sought to become operational in a timely fashion with minimum confusion.
Amateur Radio Emergency Services is establishing communications with the outside world.
ARES functioned onsite at the high school as net control, testing communications both within the facility and with the outside world including the MACC. During the course of event, the drill organizers presented volunteers with fictional problematic scenarios called “injects” to test their ability to think on their feet. The drill concluded at 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch and a “hot wash” for the volunteers.
Cape Cod Disaster Animal Response Team (CCDART) hosts two customers at the emergency shelter drill at Falmouth High School.
Knowledge Transfer
The emergency shelter system has not been activated since the winter of 2015. Memories of the last activation are fading away. But for those whose job it is to maintain the regional sheltering capability, the lessons learned in 2015 and previous years need to be retained so new volunteers can be trained. Along with testing the protocols in the Plan, drills such as the one in Falmouth enable those with real-world shelter experience to share their knowledge with those who don’t. The transfer of institutional knowledge is key to the long-term success of a regional emergency shelter system based on volunteer participants.
Photos via Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee
