BOSTON (WHDH) - The Coast Guard and law enforcement officers from 14 state, local and federal agencies teamed up for a drill at the Port of Boston to ensure they’d know what to do in a radioactive emergency.
A scenario they trained for entailed a mock radioactive incident from a radiological device hidden in a transport container. Those training for the exercise, with meters in hand, were quickly able to locate the source.
“Just in case,” said Capt. Kailie Benson of the U.S. Coast Guard. “Preparing to respond and training to be ready, so it’s part of the job.”
Capt. Jonathan Lent of the Massport Police called these drills “extremely important.”
“We get to test what that capabilities we have, but the other thing is bringing all the agencies together that have similar capabilities,” he added.
The hope is that no one ever has to respond to a case like this, but if the call comes, they’re ready.
“There’s sort of a foundational truth in emergency management crisis response to know who your partners are before an actual emergency so that when you do show up to a scene together as first responders, we’re not having to get to know who’s who, we already know that and we already know how to work together,” Benson added.
The group will conduct a similar exercise at sea as well.
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