New Canaan Town Officials Complete Emergency Response Exercise

NEW CANAAN, CT — Town officials completed a two-day disaster planning exercise hosted by the Office of Emergency Management this week.

The exercise focused on emergency response and recovery from a simulated category 3 hurricane and its aftermath impacting New Canaan, according to a news release provided by the town.

The program was conducted by the California-based Preparedness Consulting & Training International in partnership with the town's emergency management director, Russ Kimes, Deputy EMD Phil Sheibley and Fire Chief Albe Bassett.

Participants included First Selectman Kevin Moynihan and department heads and staff from across town government, including the police, fire, EMS, public works, animal control, health and more.

According to the town, participants were tasked with leading New Canaan's preparation, response, recovery and communications across eight modules, ranging from 96 hours before storm landfall to two weeks after the simulated emergency.

Teams were broken into two groups, with each group standing up the various functions of the Emergency Operations Center, including command, operations, planning, logistics, finance and safety.

An after action report detailing lessons learned and improvements will be compiled by OEM to prepare various town departments to improve their overall preparedness in policy, procedures and equipment, according to the town.