RCC Consultants and CalSIEC Central Planning Area Conduct Regional HSEEP-Compliant Tabletop Exercise

Online, October 28, 2011 (Newswire.com) - RCC Consultants, Inc. and the CalSIEC Central Planning Area (CPA) conducted a tabletop exercise in Clovis, CA focusing on interoperable communications and incident management to validate emergency response plans and protocols for a simulated disaster. The October 13 exercise helped advance the level of proficiency and expediency in establishing command, control and communications for multi-jurisdictional, multi-disciplinary incidents.

Using Department of Homeland Security grant funding from the Public Safety Interoperable Communications Grant Program and the Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program, the CPA and RCC have committed to a multi-year effort to integrate interoperability with incident management. This tabletop exercise represents a significant milestone in the program to advance the governance, operational competency and technology capabilities in the seven-county region of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced and Tulare counties. More than 100 participants from Law, Fire, EMS, Emergency Management, Education and Healthcare participated.

A tabletop exercise is a discussion-based simulation of a hypothetical, but realistic, emergency scenario that is used to assess plans, policies and procedures or to assess the systems needed to guide the prevention of, response to, and recovery from a defined incident operating under the principles of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). These exercises are compliant with the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).

The CPA and RCC will conduct a series of three functional exercises in November to further advance and implement these capabilities.