Dells-Delton Area Response Exercise Series | The Village of Lake Delton, Wisconsin – Incorporated 1954

The Dells-Delton Area Response Exercise Series (DARES) grant became reality because the FBI and the Department of Homeland understand how incredibly vulnerable this area is to such an attack. With average daily visitors of 75-150,000, 1.5 billion in tourism generated dollars and a workforce comprised of foreign students from all over the world what would be the national and international implications of this event.  Think of the incredible media response. That impact is exactly the hope for those who want to exploit it. Those who look upon us as a soft target, where the most causalities result in more media coverage. A large-scale critical incident occurring in the Dells-Delton area. A mass casualty event. The focus being on when it will happen, not if.

DARES afford us the unique opportunity to review, train and test every part of our emergency response plan. A public and private sector emergency preparedness partnership. Bringing together vast resources of the Department Homeland Security, Wisconsin Department of Emergency Management and the Health Services. This two-year capstone project culminates with a large-scale exercise in May 2022. That exercise will include complex mass casualty events with traumatic injuries and burn patients arriving at hospitals by various means.  It will require effective coordination of local response partners, emergency response agencies, managers, regional medical coordination and the healthcare coalition, legal, PIO’s and mass casualty services. This practical exercise is designed to test the entire system without breaking it.  DARES give us a choice to plan and work collaboratively before a critical incident occurs. When it occurs, we won’t have that choice.

DARES PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

• Initial Business Site Assessments – to establish a baseline of infrastructure currently in place, including; review of emergency operation plans and standard operating procedures for strengths and vulnerabilities.
• PCII (Protected Critical Infrastructure Information) – data entry of business site assessment data into PCII.
• Critical Response Group, CRG mapping of Dells-Delton businesses and school district for rapid deployment and accountability of emergency services in a critical event.
• Increased Business Sector Collaboration – Local businesses working cooperatively to prevent and prepare for mass casualty events.
• Critical Incident Networking – focus group discussions for legal, investigative, medical, PIO and coroners.
• Collaborative Training Evolutions – Private sector attend training and tabletop exercises along with emergency services, Police, Fire, EMS, etc.
• DARES Business Seminar – Annual Two-day free conference with training topics specifically geared towards businesses from identifying and understanding the threat, to preparedness, response and recovery.
• Mass Communications Platform – allows business and emergency services to quickly exchange information that could prevent critical event or assist during onset.
• Web-Based 24/7 Training Website hosted by Lake Delton Emergency Management – to address training transient workforce in disaster preparedness and posting interactive training calendar.
• Business Site EOP Evaluations – Small scale practical exercises to test EOP currently in place.
• Specialized Needs Based Training – training conducted at each business that specifically addresses vulnerabilities identified in site assessments.
• Trained and Tested EOP Updates – streamlined EOP updates that effectively address core capabilities and effective emergency response in mass casualty events.
• Continued Private Sector Involvement – business staff participate in all aspects of grant program, including training and designing final practical exercise.

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