LIHU‘E — Reports of gunshots broke a quiet Thursday morning at the Kaua‘i Community College.
That was the scenario of the full-scale weapons of mass destruction exercise that pretty much shut down the Puhi campus as county, state agencies, and other emergency response partners took over the situation with the Hawai‘i National Guard 93rd Civil Support Team.
“We are grateful to the participating agencies for dedicating their time and expertise in these crucial emergency exercises,” said Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami in the preliminary announcement of the multi-agency exercises last week. “The skills that are practiced, and lessons learned during this training will benefit our first responders, and the people of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau.”
The incident started innocent enough when reports of suspicious appearing people were forwarded to the college’s security office.
The investigative response drew gunfire and the situation escalated to wounded people, a barricade situation, and the lead to discovering a variety of drug labs set up in various areas of the college.
“The scenario is from the news accounts you see daily around the country,” said Mahiai Naihe, KCC head of security. “It could happen, here. It’s good to have our different first responders learn how to handle these situations. It’s a good way for them to learn our campus as well. A lot of them never have an opportunity to see how our campus is set up.”
Responding to the Thursday situation at the college were the Kaua‘i Emergency Management Agency, the Kaua‘i Police Department with its Special Response Team vehicles, and the Mobile Incident Command, the Kaua‘i Fire Department with its field command vehicle, joining the special response teams from the KCC, the Hawai‘i Department of Health, the Wilcox Memorial Hospital, Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital, and the Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital.
“We have four entities — Island School, the preschool, Kawaikini Charter School, and Punana Leo — here beside the college,” Naihe said. “We’re ready to set up an outdoor triage area for mass casualties so the hospitals don’t get overwhelmed. Additionally, there are certain classrooms set up to accommodate casualties.”
The scenario escalated to the discovery of hazardous chemicals from a variety of drug labs established around the campus.
“The exercises aim to ensure that Kaua‘i’s first responders will be better prepared for Weapons of Mass Destruction events as well as a broad spectrum of natural and man-made disasters,” said Kaua‘i Emergency Management Administrator Elton Ushi. “The skills learned will also be applicable to hazardous materials incidents as well as events that require that multi-agency, multi-discipline coordination, and interoperable communications.”
