The Albany, N.Y., Capital Region Urban Area Working Group (CRUAWG) will conduct a functional exercise on the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute campus on June 14, testing the collaboration, cooperation, and communications between various public safety agencies and other organizations during an emergency. The CRUAWG is a regional homeland security partnership between the cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy, and the counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Schoharie.

 The exercise is funded by the Department of Homeland Security Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program, which provides resources to states, territories, and local and tribal governments to carry out initiatives to improve interoperable emergency communications. 

The main location for the administrative exercise will be the Harkness Conference Room in the East Campus Athletic Village of Rensselaer. Some additional components of the exercise will take at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn and public safety emergency operations centers. The exercise will begin at 8:45 a.m. and end by 1:30 p.m.

“We want to make sure the public is aware of this exercise since there will be a collection of emergency vehicles and personnel on the Rensselaer campus as officials and agencies arrive and depart from the event,” said Travis LePage, federal engineering program manager. “Our primary purpose is to simply make sure all of the processes and interagency cooperation and communications work smoothly during a real emergency.”

During the June 14 exercise, participants will be presented with an emergency scenario and will then be asked to work together to make rapid and effective decisions on how the crisis should be managed, ranging from communicating with the public to coordinating with area hospitals to synchronizing the efforts of various city, county, and state agencies. “This exercise represents a significant step in achieving meaningful and measurable improvements in interoperable communications,” said LePage.

Exercise participants include  the following agencies: Troy Police Department, Troy Fire Department, Troy Department of Public Works, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, City of Albany Fire Department, City of Albany Police Department, Albany County Sheriff, Rensselaer County Emergency Management and 911 Center, Rensselaer County Sheriff, City of Schenectady Police and Fire, Schenectady County Emergency Management, New York State Police, New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Empire Ambulance, Albany Memorial Hospital, Samaritan Hospital, and Seton Health/St. Mary’s Hospital.

Contacts:

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: Mark Marchand, 518-276-6098, marchm3@rpi.edu

CRUAWG: Travis LePage, 585-507-9731, tlepage@fedeng.com