Army Spec. Derek W. Austin was one of more than 4,000 military and civilian participants who recently participated in the joint training exercise “Vibrant Response,” at Camp Atterbury’s Joint Maneuver Training Center, along with the nearby Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, and its surrounding communities in southern Indiana.
CLEARWATER – “There’s just been a terrorist attack of a 10-ton nuclear device explosion in downtown Indianapolis, and the surviving town on the outskirts needs immediate emergency aid response,” was the call that jolted the son of a Clearwater couple into action.
Luckily for Army Spec. Derek W. Austin, son of Dave and Rose Austin of Clearwater, the call wasn’t for a real terrorist attack, but for a federal emergency response exercise called “Vibrant Response.” The week-long exercise simulated a terrorist nuclear attack in the United States, and required the nation’s military from all services, along with local and state first responders to quickly be put into action.
Austin was one of more than 4,000 military and civilian participants who recently converged on Camp Atterbury’s Joint Maneuver Training Center, along with the nearby Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, and its surrounding communities in southern Indiana to test their emergency response capabilities.
“My role here is to help save lives and restore a normal daily routine to the mock casualty victims,” said Austin, who is a team leader at Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas.
With an underground tunnel system, nine miles of roads, and more than 120-plus buildings, which included a hospital, nursing home, parking garages, power plant, schools, and a police station, Muscatatuck was the perfect location for this training event.
Burning vehicles and garbage, rubbage piles, emergency sirens, and lots of smoke from fog machines and smoke candles, made the training center look like it had indeed been the site of a nuclear disaster. Role players were hired to portray survivors, and moulage experts made the injuries and ailments that they would receive by surviving such an incident look as realistic as possible.
Assessment, search and rescue, decontamination, medical, aviation, engineering and logistics missions were performed by military teams that surveyed the damage, erected triage centers, setup decontamination sites, and performed radiation tests to ensure it was safe for service members to begin work.
Search and rescue, and decontamination teams removed civilians and casualties from the devastated area. Affected victims were decontaminated and then triaged and provided with medical care. As ambulances and helicopters stood by, the medical team coordinated ground evacuation, hospitalization, veterinary care, preventive medicine, blood distribution and medical logistical support of patients. Military members constantly train for battle in a foreign country, but making sure that they are prepared to respond on American soil is also important. Training for such a catastrophe has been deemed mandatory by U.S. military officials.
“Training for this exercise meant long hours and days spent going over large amounts of information so that we would be able to react to any and all situations that could or may arise,” said Austin.
When a natural disaster occurs, local city and county first responders are the first on the scene. But an event like a nuclear detonation would quickly require regional and national responders to assist. For Austin and the others, an exercise like “Vibrant Response” allows everyone to work out any kinks that may arise at an inopportune time during a real disaster. Valuable lessons were learned each day including communication, logistical, and coordination issues. It also helps Austin and the others understand how federal, local and state agencies become one to complete a mission of this magnitude.
“This type of exercise is important because it helps us see how as a task force we can move long distances to support the American people in a time of need,” said Austin, who has been in the military for three years.
Hopefully for Austin and all of the participants, lessons learned during “Vibrant Response” will never have to be used. But in case they do get that call one day, they will be prepared to respond.
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