[Scan-DC] Operation Tourist Boom To Feature Multiple Incidents (Nov. 3)

[Alan Henney]

Operation Tourist Boom To Feature Multiple Incidents

Shawn J. Soper

Managing Editor

OCEAN CITY -- There will be helicopters circling the skies, Navy vessels
near the shoreline and hundreds of first-responders from dozens of agencies
around the downtown area on the first Saturday in November, but there will
be no reason to panic.

At Monday’s Mayor and Council meeting, Emergency Management Planner Bob
Rhode outlined some of the early details of Operation Tourist Boom, a
multi-agency drill planned at locations all over the downtown area on the
first weekend in November. Allied federal, state and local agencies, along
with private sector groups and quasi-public organizations, will be
participating in the operation, which will include an active shooter
exercise, a simulated vehicle assault with multiple casualties, a
ship-boarding exercise off the coast, a simulated bomb detonation and a
handful of other exercises designed to test the local, state and federal
agencies’ ability to coordinate a measured response to the types of
emergency situations that have occurred in other areas in recent years.

Operation Tourist Boom will include local agencies such as Ocean City
Emergency Services, the Ocean City Police Department, the Ocean City Fire
Department and EMS, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, the Maryland
State Police, the Maryland Natural Resources Police and U.S. Park Police
from Assateague. State and federal agencies scheduled to participate
include the Maryland National Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard and even the U.S.
Navy.

“The main objective is to coordinate all of the agencies so they work well
together,” said Rhode. “We’re going to have nine simultaneous operations
going on in real time with upwards of 900 responders from various agencies
and 200 victims.”

Rhode outlined some of the early drills expected to be included in the
larger operation such as Navy vessels offshore delivering resources such as
manpower and materials during a simulated emergency.

“The Navy is going to be here and they are going to put landing craft on
the beaches,” he said. “The purpose of that is if we lost access to the
bridges during an emergency, we could get the resources we need here by
vessel.”

The multi-faceted operation will not be limited to simulated emergency
situations on land.

“There will be a ship-boarding and search operation right off shore and
there will be helicopters and ships out there,” he said. “Around the same
time, there will be an active shooter exercise at the amusement park on the
pier with a high number of victims and personnel from the various agencies
will go in and dissolve the situation and find the victims.”

Rhode explained the National Guard and other military components will be
included in the operation.

“The military people will be doing a mine-sweeping operation on the beach
and the plan is to simulate the detonation of a dirty bomb,” he said. “The
operation also includes a vehicle assault with multiple casualties and they
will actually load casualties and airlift them.”

More:
https://mdcoastdispatch.com/2018/09/05/massive-emergency-training-exercise-planned-for-november/