LIHU‘E — The Hawai‘i National Guard’s 93rd Civil Support Team on Monday started conducting its annual weeklong training on island in partnership with the Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency and other county, state and federal entities. Private organizations will also participate
LIHU‘E — The Hawai‘i National Guard’s 93rd Civil Support Team on Monday started conducting its annual weeklong training on island in partnership with the Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency and other county, state and federal entities.
Private organizations will also participate in the training, a county news release states.
Drills and seminars simulating the use of weapons of mass destruction along with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons will take place at various venues, including: the Kaua‘i County Emergency Operations Center; War Memorial Convention Hall; Kaua‘i Police Department range; and local hospitals.
A full-scale exercise will be conducted on Thursday at the old Honsador facility on Ninini Point Street between the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort and Beach Club and the Lihu‘e Airport runway, the release states.
Officials are asking for the public’s cooperation by staying clear of any obvious or marked training and exercise areas to allow participants to conduct the exercises without interruptions.
The aim of the training is to ensure that Kaua‘i’s first responders will be better prepared in the unlikely event of a WMD attack on the Garden Isle.
The skills learned during the training can also be applied to other events such as hazardous materials incidents and/or events that require multi-agency, multi-discipline coordination under the Incident Command System.
“The county takes WMD threats very seriously, and we strive to be prepared and ever vigilant,” said Civil Defense Manager Theodore Daligdig in the release.
“We’ll hone our skills, practice our plans, learn from our mistakes, and target areas of improvement.”
For more information about the CST training, call the Kaua‘i Civil Defense Agency at 241-1800.
