The day was finally here. Months and months of planning preceded the event. Briefings were held and assignments were made. Equipment was arriving from near and far. Volunteers were milling about in eager anticipation.
Outside agencies participating were from Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Winnebago, Carroll and even Green and Rock counties, involving the Emergency Operations Center in Freeport for incident command, law enforcement, hazmat teams, bomb squad, fire departments, hospital, EMS and Triage personnel, Red Cross and Salvation Army, Tactical Rescue teams, ham radio operators and the FBI.
Ham radio operators were assigned communication duties to bridge the gap between different agencies' radio frequencies. Each agency has its own frequency. The ham radio operators relayed requests through the Emergency Operations Center incident commanders for resources, bomb squad, ambulances, law enforcement, fire departments, Tactical Rescue Teams, Red Cross and Salvation Army for food, rest areas and warming houses; essentially for all types of departments' communication needs.
I volunteered to be a scribe for the drill commander who was stationed in the FBI truck. I took notes as the commander made decisions and relayed orders. The FBI truck is a very interesting piece of equipment. It is stationed in Chicago and assigned to the northern quadrant of the United States. Previous to coming to Freeport for this exercise, the truck had been to the Northern Illinois University shooting. The truck has its own communications center, several computers and televisions. It's price tag is about $750,000.
At 3 p.m, the drill commander announced the exercise was on. The terrorism drill was planned as a three-phased terrorist attack to ultimately break a prisoner out of jail.
The first phase was an explosion, a diversion designed to involve many emergency response resources - law enforcement, EMS, fire department, bomb squad, etc. The explosion caused part of the building to collapse and trap victims. About 30 to 35 victims would be involved. What caused the explosion? Law enforcement assessed the scene, provided traffic control and blocked off streets. The incident commander requisitioned ambulances from Freeport, Lena, Rock City, German Valley and the Rockford Bomb Disposal team. This first phase lasted until around 7 to 7:30 p.m.
The second phase started about 5 p.m. and was a train derailment designed to release toxic gases around the jail to force evacuation of prisoners and divert more law enforcement and emergency responders to this site. More victims were encountered at this site. Responders were beginning to tire and ask for relief and food and a place to warm up. This phase lasted until about 9 p.m.
The third phase of the drill was planned as a jailbreak. The incident commander made the decision to call this portion of the exercise a table top exercise. The officials at the jail determined there was no need to evacuate the jail as the winds were not bringing toxic fumes to the jail. Windows were closed, vents were closed, the jail was locked down.
The drill was ended about 9:30 p.m.
At the debriefing, it was determined that 25 ham radio operators were used, personnel from four counties were directly involved and 162 messages were sent via ham radio. All volunteers said they learned something, either about themselves, their equipment or their training.
Some of us are eagerly awaiting the next exercise.
- Jean Woodruff is news clerk of
The Monroe Times. She can be reached at
newsclerk@themonroetimes.com.
Outside agencies participating were from Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Winnebago, Carroll and even Green and Rock counties, involving the Emergency Operations Center in Freeport for incident command, law enforcement, hazmat teams, bomb squad, fire departments, hospital, EMS and Triage personnel, Red Cross and Salvation Army, Tactical Rescue teams, ham radio operators and the FBI.
Ham radio operators were assigned communication duties to bridge the gap between different agencies' radio frequencies. Each agency has its own frequency. The ham radio operators relayed requests through the Emergency Operations Center incident commanders for resources, bomb squad, ambulances, law enforcement, fire departments, Tactical Rescue Teams, Red Cross and Salvation Army for food, rest areas and warming houses; essentially for all types of departments' communication needs.
I volunteered to be a scribe for the drill commander who was stationed in the FBI truck. I took notes as the commander made decisions and relayed orders. The FBI truck is a very interesting piece of equipment. It is stationed in Chicago and assigned to the northern quadrant of the United States. Previous to coming to Freeport for this exercise, the truck had been to the Northern Illinois University shooting. The truck has its own communications center, several computers and televisions. It's price tag is about $750,000.
At 3 p.m, the drill commander announced the exercise was on. The terrorism drill was planned as a three-phased terrorist attack to ultimately break a prisoner out of jail.
The first phase was an explosion, a diversion designed to involve many emergency response resources - law enforcement, EMS, fire department, bomb squad, etc. The explosion caused part of the building to collapse and trap victims. About 30 to 35 victims would be involved. What caused the explosion? Law enforcement assessed the scene, provided traffic control and blocked off streets. The incident commander requisitioned ambulances from Freeport, Lena, Rock City, German Valley and the Rockford Bomb Disposal team. This first phase lasted until around 7 to 7:30 p.m.
The second phase started about 5 p.m. and was a train derailment designed to release toxic gases around the jail to force evacuation of prisoners and divert more law enforcement and emergency responders to this site. More victims were encountered at this site. Responders were beginning to tire and ask for relief and food and a place to warm up. This phase lasted until about 9 p.m.
The third phase of the drill was planned as a jailbreak. The incident commander made the decision to call this portion of the exercise a table top exercise. The officials at the jail determined there was no need to evacuate the jail as the winds were not bringing toxic fumes to the jail. Windows were closed, vents were closed, the jail was locked down.
The drill was ended about 9:30 p.m.
At the debriefing, it was determined that 25 ham radio operators were used, personnel from four counties were directly involved and 162 messages were sent via ham radio. All volunteers said they learned something, either about themselves, their equipment or their training.
Some of us are eagerly awaiting the next exercise.
- Jean Woodruff is news clerk of
The Monroe Times. She can be reached at
newsclerk@themonroetimes.com.
