LIMESTONE, Maine — On Saturday, Aug. 12, a handful of local agencies came together to participate in the 2017 Limestone Water Crisis Point of Distribution Exercise.
This exercise was part of a two-part series developed by the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency in partnership with the Town of Limestone.
According to Jesse Belanger, deputy director of Aroostook County EMA, the objective of this exercise was to evaluate municipal and Aroostook County emergency management plans and public safety coordination, with a primary focus on the ability to establish and staff a “point of distribution.”
A point of distribution, or POD, is a location that would be used to distribute commodities such as bottled water or food to people affected by a disaster, he said.
The exercise is the second of a two-part series that included a tabletop exercise in May of this year that focused on municipal water emergencies.
“This year’s scenario focused heavily on the recovery aspect of emergencies and disasters,” said Belanger. “Exercising these important capabilities is critical so that responders and volunteers can be ready if they’re needed.”
Darren Woods, Aroostook EMA director, conducted an after-action review with the responders involved. He told the group, “Being able to test our plans as we did here today will allow us to be better prepared and improve responses for the future incidents.”
Aroostook County coordinates several exercises every year, with at least one large full-scale exercise annually. These exercises provide opportunity for organizations to practice their readiness and ability to cooperate with other agencies in a real-life scenario, providing a basis to make necessary improvements.
For more information on these public safety exercises or other current public safety information, you can go to the Aroostook County Emergency Management Website at www.aroostookema.com, or like our Facebook page.
