Twenty three Naval Station (NAVSTA) Newport military and DoD civilian personnel who will serve in the installation's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) concluded a three-day training course that qualifies them as Incident Management Team (IMT) members, Sept. 23.

The business of NAVSTA Newport's first responder's - police and fire emergency services - is to arrive at, secure and take charge at the scene of an emergency, such as an accident, natural disaster, active shooter or terrorist attack, the role of EOC-IMT personnel is to manage the incident from a command center, provide necessary resources, and stabilize the situation.

"This training is an opportunity for us to learn how to better work as a team," said Capt. Dennis R. D. Boyer, commanding officer of NAVSTA Newport.

Speaking to the EOC-IMT class members assembled in the installation's EOC facility, Boyer reiterated his three focus areas of "taking care of those assigned to work at NAVSTA Newport; developing and maintaining an emergency management plan that is based on on-hand resources rather than on what we wished we had; and executing tasks being the best stewards of our resources."

"If there is an incident that occurs on the base, it's up to us to take care of it," Boyer said. "Not something for the tenant commands."

"Our job is to make bad things stop happening, take care of our people, and restore normal operations," he said.

During the three-day course, class members were introduced to EOC topics that included: EOC-IMT Organization and Coordination, Roles of a Navy EOC, Information Management, SMART Objective Development, Incident Command Post, Incident Action Planning, Resource Management, and Recovery Operations.

Class members were assigned to working groups within the four functional areas of an EOC: operations, planning, logistics, and finance and administration.

The afternoon practical exercise, Sept. 21, was dedicated to EOC-IMT members managing a protest at Gate 1 and Gate 17 and later, responding to a sudden earthquake.

Chief Boatswain's Mate Americo Medina, port operations officer, was assigned to the operations section. "The training presented unscripted, no notice incidents that required us to respond," Medina said. "We had to identify the incident and determine the need to assist and get the right help."

Patrick Walsh, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, acting emergency management officer, assigned to the planning section, called the training an eye-opening experience.

"I'm getting to see the inner workings of the EOC and seeing how the information is processed," Walsh said.

Maureen O'Connell, a clinical therapist at Newport's Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC), said FFCS has an established supportive role to play.

"In a critical incident involving mass casualties or an active shooter, the FFSC will establish an Emergency Family Assistance Center (EFAC)," O'Connell said.
"In the aftermath of these types of incidents, families who are impacted would require supportive services," she said.

NAVSTA Newport's EFAC would provide military and DoD civilian families with approximately 25 resource and referral services, especially for mental health and crisis counseling.

"This training is definitely a benefit, it helps us to learn to operate as an effective team," said Mark Fuller, NAVSTA Emergency Management Officer (EMO).

"This course introduces the principles, components, and characteristics of an installation's emergency management program and the functions of the emergency operations center," Fuller said.

The training, presented by Booz, Allen and Hamilton contractor Brock Bergeson, Commander, Naval Installations Command (CNIC), Training Programs, emphasizes the activation and operation of an installation EOC in response to natural and manmade disasters, to include reporting requirements, documentation, and EOC deactivation.

"An actual incident will always provide the best means of how an IMT operates," Bergeson said. "This course helps to point out areas that can be strengthened, refined, and improved upon that might not otherwise take place during an actual incident."

Class members viewed two videos that summarized EOC-IMT after action reviews of the 2007 San Diego wildfires in which Naval Base Coronado provided evacuee site support; and the 2010 Millington, Tenn. floods that impacted Naval Support Activity Millington.

Attendees were required to complete two prerequisite FEMA courses online: IS-100.a, Introduction to the Incident Command System; and IS-700.a, The National Incident Management System (NIMS).


For more news from Naval Station Newport, visit www.navy.mil/.