The Hawai‘i National Guard’s 93rd Civil Support Team (CST) is scheduled to conduct its annual anti-terrorism training exercises on Kaua‘i from today through Thursday, April 14. The Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency is cosponsoring this training with the federal Transportation Security
The Hawai‘i National Guard’s 93rd Civil Support Team (CST) is scheduled to conduct its annual anti-terrorism training exercises on Kaua‘i from today through Thursday, April 14.
The Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency is cosponsoring this training with the federal Transportation Security Administration and the Kaua‘i District Health Office.
The exercise aims at insuring that first responders – Civil Defense, fire, police, public works and water departments along with state, federal and private industry – will be prepared in the unlikely event of a terrorist attack on Kaua‘i.
“The County takes threats seriously,” said Mark Marshall, head of Kaua‘i’s Civil Defense Agency. “We have plans in place and we’re going to exercise those plans.”
The training exercises will help to test local, state and federal antiterrorist response plans through various scenarios and to coordinate all responding agencies should there be an attack.
One scenario will test the effectiveness of the state’s Kaua‘i District Health Office plan in the event of a bioterrorist attack. A mock drive-through clinic, the first of its kind in the U.S., will be activated at Vidinha Stadium on Thursday, April 14 from 10 a.m. to noon.
“This is one of the places where residents and visitors would go for medicines and supplies during a bioterrorist incident or other health emergencies,” said David Lane, bioterrorism preparedness planner with the Kaua‘i District Health Office.
About 600 people are needed for this exercise. Participants need to fill out forms, be evaluated and receive make-believe medication. In exchange, they’ll receive a $5 voucher redeemable at Foodland, Ishihara Market, Kmart, Kukui Grove Shopping Center or Star Market.
“In the event of a bioterrorist attack, our goal is to dispense Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) medication to everyone on Kaua‘i within 48 to 72 hours,” Lane said.
The SNS is a program of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control. There are about 12 caches of medication and medical supplies at secret locations that would be delivered to any location in the U.S. within 12 hours after presidential approval.
- For more information about the mock drive-through clinic, please call the Kaua‘i District Health Office, 241-3555.
- For additional information about the CST training exercises, call Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency at 241-1800.
