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HSEM Region 1 Civil Disturbance
In May 2020, a civil disturbance began in the Minneapolis – Saint Paul area. The State of Minnesota Department of Public Safety put out a call for assistance to greater Minnesota to aid the City of Minneapolis, the Minnesota State Patrol Rapid Response Team, and the Saint Paul Police Department.
Salamander Solutions Used
Outcome
Minnesota’s HSEM Region 1 team responded to the call from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to assist with tagging and tracking mutual aid, personnel, and greater Minnesota area agencies over a course of ten days. Several locations were set up, including the Multi Agency Command Center (MACC) along with two other staging and check-in areas. This is where MN HSEM personnel utilized Salamander’s RAPID TAG solution to account for responders entering and leaving the event.
It was important to be able to account for on-scene mutual aid and provide real-time situational awareness. MN HSEM found that RAPID TAG provided the flexibility and visibility they needed to capture information at both of the staging areas and the MACC.
During the event, MN HSEM needed some of their equipment updated and additional JIT training. Salamander quickly arrived on-scene to provide support. “The customer service we received was outstanding,” said Rich Hall, MN HSEM Region 1 Chair. With Salamanders support, the process at each of the locations became streamlined and those that were entered into the RAPID TAG solution received a wristband for future check in and out of the event. “It is an easy system to use, which is huge during an emergency,” said Jennifer Hauer-Schmitz, Emergency Services Director in Rice County. The information collected was also synced to Salamander’s COMMAND so those assisting at the MACC would know, in real-time, where people were located and assigned.
Rich Hall also stated that, “Several times since the incident, I have been asked by Homeland Security Emergency Management or the Department of Public Safety for information on if this person was there, can you get us that information, or can you send us a list of who all was there. For me Salamander made it pretty simple to do that. I could answer their questions, not only who was there but what agencies were there too. We could also track personnel from greater Minnesota area and make sure that they were arriving on time, that they did get here, and that they were utilized properly, we could see that with every report that came in.”
Following the event, MN HSEM Region 1 is continuing to work with Salamander to train and incorporate best practices learned from throughout the US. By building off of the successes during this event, and applying practices learned during ongoing training and exercises, MN HSEM Region 1 is prepared to provide INTELLIGENT ACCOUNTABILITY going forward.