NEW ORLEANS – The Coast Guard and the Urban Area Security Initiative Region 1 will be holding the annual Area Maritime Security Training & Exercise Program here March 27, 2008.
Agencies involved will exercise plans for coordination, communication and capabilities of everything from ambulances to bomb sniffing dogs that may be involved in a terrorist, or any emergency situation.
“The AMSTEP exercise pulls together all those agencies responsible for the security of the port and the people who live there” said Capt. Lincoln Stroh, Commander of Coast Guard Sector New Orleans. “The AMSTEP exercise is an annual requirement where agencies respond to a terrorist event. The interaction and lessons learned help responders react to any joint agency emergency”.
The list of agencies involved in this year’s exercise includes; Coast Guard units from New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the FBI, Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP), City of New Orleans, Orleans, St. Charles, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson Parish Emergency Operations Centers, Touro Infirmary, West Jefferson and East Jefferson Hospitals, Shell-Norco, and police, sheriff, fire and EMS from throughout the region.
