LīHU’E, KAUA’I, HAWAI’I: The Kaua’i Emergency Management Agency Shelters Mission, the first ever Air National Guard Emergency Management-led Innovative Readiness Training mission, concluded with a Distinguished Visitor’s Day at the Kauai’i Emergency Management Agency in Līhu’e, Kauai, Hawai’i. The DV Day hosted Air National Guard leadership and showcased the results of the mission that began April 23rd, 2023 and concluded August 13th, 2023.
Innovative Readiness Training is a Department of Defense military training opportunity, exclusive to the United States and its territories, that delivers joint training opportunities to increase deployment readiness. Simultaneously, IRT provides key services (health care, construction, transportation, and cybersecurity) with lasting benefits to American communities.
The KEMA Shelters Mission brought together civil and military Emergency Management and Civil Engineer partners to rewrite the Kaua’i County’s emergency operations plan, and help provide assessments for county refuge areas in an effort to minimize the impacts to the community in the event of a disaster. A refuge area is a public building or space designated as an appropriate and safe location to evacuate to during an emergency, such as a tsunami or hurricane.
“The mission here was to perform inspections of selected refuge areas that KEMA had already pre identified,” says Captain Misty Last, the KEMA Shelters Mission Officer In Charge. “So our job was to go out there and do a full condition assessment of those refuge areas and then produce a full report that can create an actionable plan.”
Master Sergeant Brad Wilson, the ANG IRT Deputy Program Manager, gave a ‘big picture’ look at what was accomplished. “They looked at everything from the strength of a roof, the strength of the beams that are in there, the concrete, wood, windows, the physical space, how much square footage was in each of those buildings, living quarters where people could stay, feeding quarters, a place for triage for medical, staging area for materials, for cots, for medical supplies…you name it, they looked at every single thing in there.”
“Having it all come together, and seeing everyone here, and hearing the briefings today really brought me a sense of, ‘Wow, we’ve made it. We’ve accomplished it.’” says KEMA Administrator Elton Ushio. “And it’s quite humbling.”
Because of the civil-military partnership and integration between KEMA and IRT for the Shelters Mission, $3.2 million was saved by the County of Kaua’i, and the Air National Guard received valuable training, while both made invaluable friendships.
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.22.2023 19:40 |
| Story ID: | 454145 |
| Location: | LIHUE, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 101 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, IRT and KEMA Complete First Emergency Management Mission, by MSgt James Michaels, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
