BARNSTABLE COUNTY – On June 8 and 9 the Barnstable County Technical Rescue Team joined the Bristol, Plymouth and Norfolk technical rescue teams and the National Guard in a regional training exercise. The deployment, designated as “Operation Swift”, was fully funded by the United States Department of Homeland Security managed through the Southeast Regional Planning & Economic Development District.
The exercise was based on the post-emergency response to a hurricane that devastates the Town of Plainville causing major destruction including multiple building collapses throughout the community. It involved scenarios designed to test the four team’s operational readiness, interoperability, mobilization capabilities and technical rescue competencies. Specific technical rescue skills included breaking and breaching concrete, victim removal, shoring collapsed buildings, technical extrication and lifting and moving large objects. In addition to the technical rescue scenarios, the National Guard was used to transport team members to the site via helicopter to assess the potential use of National Guard resources as an emergency transportation platform for future deployments.
The drill also evaluated a Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety strategy currently in motion that is designed to build regional-based technical rescue teams capable of rapidly responding to provide technical rescue services to communities throughout the Commonwealth.
The Barnstable County Fire Departments currently providing staff and resources to the County Technical Rescue Team include Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Harwich, Eastham, Sandwich, Barnstable, Mashpee and Joint Base Cape Cod.
Media release and photos provided by the Barnstable County Technical Rescue Team
