Beginning Tuesday, April 25, and continuing throughout the week, Tri-State area first-responders will be participating in a response drill to a hypothetical nuclear explosion called Operation Gotham Shield.
According to FEMA spokeswoman Lauren Lefebvre, the purpose of the exercise is “to expand the ability at local and national levels to coordinate an effect a large-scale response and recovery to an event like this.”
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It is to be a “notional” exercise in which emergency responders respond theoretically to an unfolding nuclear event scenario in which all levels of government are in communication and playing a role.
The drill is not a response to the recent tensions between the United States and North Korea, or any international incident, since it has been in the planning stages for a year, Lefebvre said.
Gotham Shield is to begin on Tuesday and run through the week. It is believed that “ground zero” for the theoretical nuclear explosion is West New York.
The New Jersey EMS Task Force erected a giant medical reception area outside of Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford to triage and treat thousands of would-be patients. At the center, thousands of imaginary victims of a nuclear incident will be triaged, decontaminated, treated for injuries including burns and transported, Mickey McCabe said this morning.
Ambulance response teams from all over the tri-state area respond to Metlife. Furthermore, helicopters and ambulance buses with the capacity to transport about 400 patients will be involved. The EMS response center will operate from about 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.
Officials involved in Operation Gotham Shield says the event has nothing to do with the situation in North Korea, as the event has been in the works for some time.
What is Operation Gotham Shield?
Operation Gotham Shield was a simulated response to a fake nuclear bomb detonation in northern New Jersey.
When is Operation Gotham Shield?
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Where is Operation Gotham Shield?
Hudson County, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut.
