Longwood Medical Area/ COF Emergency Exercise:
On October 26 over 100 participants from the Colleges of the Fenway institutions, as well as other Longwood Medical Area (LMA), city, state, and federal organizations, participated in the annual LMA Emergency Exercise. This year the exercise included the activation of the LMA Joint Operations Center; the local area command center during emergencies.
The exercise scenario involved a simulated act of terror that impacted several COF institutions. All COF and LMA institutions had to activate their emergency operations plans based upon the scenario and discuss with their teams how they would respond if the event where real. The exercise scenario forced COF institutions to assist each other with evacuations and sheltering in place. Bryan Sears, COF Director of Emergency Preparedness, noted it was “excellent to see the coordination of resources between the colleges and universities as well as other jurisdictions.”
Key Strengths Identified:
- LMA and COF institutions worked well together and utilized an efficient system for sharing information.
- Excellent participation across the Colleges of the Fenway; all six institutions activated their emergency operations centers and incident management teams.
- Good identification and review of alternate care locations for students, faculty, and staff across the LMA and COF.
- Good review of the Medical Intelligence Center’s role in assisting with family reunification.
- Excellent participation/ coordination with external partners: Boston Police, Boston Fire, Boston EMS, FBI, State Police, etc.
Areas for Improvement Identified:
- Some technology and infrastructure issues within the Joint Operations Center (JOC).
- Confusion about different procedures and acronyms used in the JOC.
- Need better area wide mapping in each LMA institutions’ emergency operations center, as well as in the JOC.