Officials plan U.S., Canadian emergency response

First responders and local, federal and state officials met at the Fort Gratiot township hall Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss cross-border cooperation in the event of an emergency.

The meeting was to prepare for an April exercise — called the Canada-U.S. Enhanced Resiliency Experiment — that would simulate joint response to a tornado.

The collaborative effort is the fourth of its kind along the U.S.-Canada border, and the first in Michigan, to arise from the 2011 Beyond the Border Initiative between the U.S. and Canada.

“Oftentimes, the closest available resource is on the other side of the border,” said Joel Thomas, chief executive officer for SPIN Global, a support contractor to the Department of Homeland Security Sciences and Technology Directorate.

Thomas said participants explored mutual aid planning, the sharing of early warnings and alerts, the integration of calls for service, the coordination of volunteers and the unification of planning, technology and operations.

The meeting was the final phase of preparation for an April 26-28 experiment that will test joint response.

To read the full article, click here.