Reliant Star Exercise Brings Bases Together to Prepare for Disaster

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW) Edward Vasquez, Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy

June 10, 2010 - NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- Reliant Star, a multi-base exercise designed to enhance communication and teamwork between emergency response services began here June 9, and was echoed at two other installations in the European Area of Responsibility.

The exercise demonstrates a full range of shore force capability in order to respond to emergency events happening around the area or responsibility.

"Major accidents and natural disasters don't work on any set calendar. They can happen at any time. Therefore, it is imperative that our emergency response at the installations across Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia can be robust and swift in the face of any known or unknown circumstance," said Capt. Robert B. Rabuse, commanding officer of Naval Support Activity Naples.

Today represented the climax of several months of smaller training scenarios, which tested how well several staffs worked and communicated together, including security, medical, fire and rescue personnel, said base emergency response officials.

"We do these drills not only to train our emergency response personnel and exercise our procedures, but also to get the community involved and let them know where to turn for information and support during an emergency," said Lt. Brian Badura, Public Affairs Officer for commander, Navy Region Europe, Africa and Southwest Asia.

The exercise included various events such as a car and bus colliding and erupting into flame, victims from a chemical fire on the highway arriving at an entry control point and members displaced from their homes.

"There was a lot of confusion when the team arrived on scene. The medical team was able to raise the patience into their respective triage categories and treated them on scene," said Chief Hospital Corpsman Paul Sexton, medical evaluator for the exercise. "The medical team were then able to transport the patients with the worst injuries rapidly to the hospital."

"In a real-world event, we will be asking for support from the community," added Badura. "We all need to keep ourselves ready, but we also need to think about how we can support others."

Naples area personnel should tune in to PAO notes, Armed Forces Network (AFN) Television (AFN Prime Atlantic, decoder channel 18) and AFN radio ( 106.0 FM), as well as the Commander, Naval Installations Command website and Facebook for the most up to date information during an emergency situation.