Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist Ross Ruddell points out the different sections of the command center set up in the Barnstable County Health and Human Services building.
BARNSTABLE – More than 70 emergency management personnel spent three days at the county complex in Barnstable Village this week training for scenarios in the event of an oil spill in Cape Cod Bay.
Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist Ross Ruddell said the exercise gives local and regional safety officials an opportunity to test out response options.
Among those participating in the exercise were the Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, American Red Cross, Barnstable Fire Department, Yarmouth Fire Department, Dennis Police Department and the Department of Environmental Management.
In addition, Ruddell said, the exercise ensures that in the case of an emergency, all the agencies are accustomed to working together.
A full command post was set up in the former jail building in the county complex during the exercise, as though the oil spill was actually happening. The building is now being used to house the Barnstable County Department of Health and Human Services.
