Emergency operations at sensitive critical infrastructure sites demand close coordination between response partners and facility subject matter experts (SMEs). To strengthen this collaboration, the Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS) hosted a tabletop exercise (TTX) that simulated a rail car fire at the Washington Gas Rockville plant. The complex scenario required all participating agencies to communicate and align their efforts to manage the incident effectively. Emergencies at critical infrastructure sites can present unique challenges. This TTX was the second installment of an exercise series to allow participants to confront a variety of distinctive problems related to each incident (read about the initial workshop here). Crafting this exercise series, and this TTX, required discipline-specific, specialized knowledge from each organization identified below:
- Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service (MCFRS)
- Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD)
- Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (MC OEMHS)
- Washington Gas
- Rockville City Manager’s Office (Assistant City Manager and Emergency Manager)
- Rockville City Police Department (RCPD)
- Rockville City Department of Public Works
The workgroup collaborated to create an overarching scenario to evaluate aspects of each organization and their ability to cohesively integrate capabilities. With the framework for the exercise, the workgroup designed a scenario that would prompt departmental evaluation vis-à-vis the goals and objectives. The scenario, set at the Washington Gas Rockville Plant, involved a severe weather event that ignited a fire on the top of a rail car unloading liquid propane. As the scenario progressed, exercise participants were provided with new information from a master scenario events list (MSEL) about the evolving situation to elicit further discussion about response operations.
The TTX, held at the Montgomery College Rockville campus, had 11 exercise participants. Each participant assumed their actual responsibilities and performed their role outlined in organizational plans and policies. Overall, the participants successfully navigated the scenario and coordinated an interdisciplinary response. The TTX also identified areas for improvement and for further discussion amongst organizations. All this information will be captured in an after-action report (AAR) for departmental dissemination and consumption.
The information gleaned from this TTX will help inform the development of the final stage of this exercise series, an active assailant TTX at the Washington Gas Rockville Plant. Furthermore, this exercise highlighted the importance of gathering partners to discuss, learn from, and adapt to in order to successfully respond to complex emergencies.