Haystax Technology recently joined emergency response agencies across the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Los Angeles City and Los Angeles County, to exercise and evaluate the Regional Catastrophic Earthquake Logistics Response Plan for the Bay Area.

This year’s scenario under the Yellow Command/Urban Shield emergency preparedness exercise series simulated the region’s emergency response to a combined major earthquake/cyber attack 72 hours after quake impact, which meant testing operational coordination at emergency operations centers (EOCs), full-scale activation of Commodity Points of Distribution (C-POD) sites, response capabilities for restoration of disrupted water systems and protection capabilities against cyber attacks.

According to 9-1-1 Magazine, 15 EOCs and three full-scale C-PODs were activated during the emergency response exercise. These locations were supported by 30-plus additional agencies simulating state, federal and other local actions that would take place following a catastrophic earthquake.

“Local government practiced passing out water to the community through Commodity Points of Distribution, which, for the exercise, received donated bottled water from private-sector partners,” Yellow Command Exercise Director Corinne Bartshire told 9-1-1. “This practice in the field and the practice for Emergency Operations Centers to support the operation of C-PODs was invaluable. It allowed our jurisdictions to test their plans, and make revisions as necessary so that if a dire situation arises, we’ll be prepared to distribute life-sustaining commodities (food and water) as smoothly as possible.”

Haystax Technology’s California Common Operating Picture (Cal COP) for Threat Awareness, used as part of Yellow Command 2016, is deployed across the state of California. “Exercises like Yellow Command are absolutely critical to ensuring first responders are always ready to act when needed,” said Haystax President Chriss Knisley, who was on-site in one of the EOCs. “We’re proud to work with the State of California on this project. We firmly believe that starting with a solid, commercial-off-the-shelf product, then configuring, extending and integrating it to meet a region’s specific needs is the right model.”

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