Past Performance - Preparedness & Response

Event: U.S. Department of State WMD Full Scale Exercises
LOCATION: Washington, D.C. (and embassies/consulates worldwide)
CLIENT: U.S. State Department

SCOPE OF WORK: Our team has conducted hundreds of Table-Top, Functional, and Full Scale Exercises on every continent in the world for the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security Service, and Weapons of Mass Destruction Division. These multi-jurisdictional, multi-discipline exercises are designed to ensure that the host nation can work with U.S. personnel during mass casualty incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. This includes the necessary pre-planning events (scheduling and liaison), conducting and evaluating each exercise (exercise controller and evaluators), and developing standardized after action reports for documenting improvement opportunities at each U.S. Embassy and Consulate. We have conducted these exercises at over 260 U.S. Embassies and Consulates during the last few years, many of which were conducted in high-threat environments.

Event: Terrorist Incident, Biological Attack, Strategic National Stockpile Functional Exercise
LOCATION: Houston, Texas
CLIENT: Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services

SCOPE OF WORK: We developed and conducted an exercise for the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services division of Harris County, Texas; who is responsible for planning, preparing, and responding to health disasters including those involving Terrorist Attacks using biological agents. We conducted a large-scale (approx. 300 participants) inject driven, Functional Tabletop exercise to test inter-jurisdictional command and control coordination and response to a Strategic National Stockpile scenario. The exercise scenario was expanded in scope to encompass the need to request, receive, and distribute SNS assets and provide sufficient injects to engage all public health and other response agencies, i.e., law enforcements, schools, OEMs, hospitals, etc. at all levels, State, County and Local.

Event: Terrorism WMD HSEEP Full Scale Exercise
LOCATION: Portland, Oregon
CLIENT: Public Health Department

SCOPE OF WORK: O'Gara professionals worked closely with public safety agencies in Portland, Oregon, to plan, develop and conduct a Full Scale Exercise that involved multiple terrorist attacks where Radioactive Dispersal Devices were being used. Agencies that participated in this exercise included the FBI, Portland Bureau of Police, Oregon Civil Support Team, Department of Energy, and the Oregon Public Health Radiological Protection Service. The exercise utilized a Unified Command to comply with NIMS/ICS for the crisis management of simultaneous events which included a search operation for radiological sources, processing of a contaminated post blast crime scene, SWAT assault on a terrorist stronghold and a bomb squad operation involving precision render safe procedures for a large vehicle RDD. To enhance overall goals and objectives, actual radiological sources were used to provide a "real world" training environment. The training was conducted within a shielded radiation vault. This gave bomb technicians an extremely unique opportunity to build skills that would be needed to deal with a "real world" RDD.

Event: Terrorism WMD HSEEP Full Scale and Terrorism WMD HSEEP Table-Top Exercises
LOCATION: Atlanta, Georgia
CLIENT: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority

SCOPE OF WORK: Our experts developed and conducted a Table-Top Exercise and a Full Scale Exercise for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) which involved multiple WMD attacks on the public transportation system. Detonation of an RDD was the focus of the Table-Top Exercise. Agencies participating in these exercises included the MARTA Police Department, MARTA Rail, Bus and Station Services, Atlanta Police Department, Atlanta Fire Department, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Cobb County Police Department, Georgia Emergency Management Agency and Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency. Scenario events caused a shut down of the entire public transportation system in both exercises. During the Full Scale Exercise, responders had to simultaneously deal with an explosion at one of the rail stations, a bus hostage situation and multiple IEDs which had the potential of contaminating surrounding areas with chemical, biological and/or radiological materials. Significant opportunities for improvements in planning and response procedures were identified as a result of conducting these exercises, which were included by our staff in the final After Action Report.

Event: Terrorism WMD HSEEP Super Bowl Exercise
LOCATION: Miami, Florida
CLIENT: Miami-Dade County, Office of Emergency Management

SCOPE OF WORK: We provided training to local, state, and federal agencies at the Miami Dolphins Stadium in preparation for the 2007 Super Bowl in Miami, Florida. An exercise was conducted at the stadium that incorporated multiple scenarios of terrorist attacks during the high profile and widely broadcast special event. All training was designed to measure the capabilities of local, state and federal departments and agencies in response to an incident during the 2007 Super Bowl. Our staff worked closely with the Miami-Dade Police Department, FBI, DHS, U.S. Secret Service, BATF, FDLE, Fire Rescue, EMS, Emergency Management, Dolphins Stadium Security and Administration and other agencies to conduct training to prepare first responders, healthcare workers and security personnel for an incident involving chemical, biological, radiological or explosive materials and devices.

Event: Terrorism WMD HSEEP Super Bowl Exercise
LOCATION: Tampa, Florida
CLIENT: Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council

SCOPE OF WORK: We assisted the Tampa, Florida, UASI, and local RDSTF Region with conducting an exercise that focused on intelligence information sharing and emergency response to acts of terrorism affecting multiple locations throughout the Tampa Bay region and surrounding counties. This effort is part of an ongoing training and preparedness program, which the Tampa Bay region is using to prepare for the Super Bowl which will be held in Tampa in 2009.

Event: Terrorism (WMD) and Natural Disaster (Hurricane) HSEEP Table-Top Exercises
LOCATION: Miami-Dade County, Florida
CLIENT: Miami-Dade County, Office of Emergency Management

SCOPE OF WORK: O'Gara professionals designed, conducted and evaluated a total of 5 TTXs in Miami-Dade County with 28 different departments participating. One exercise involved multiple acts of terrorism with targeting of critical infrastructure and numerous government facilities. The second involved a biological agent which contaminated a critical facility within the county. The building had to be evacuated and could not be reoccupied for a significant amount of time. This forced activation of Continuity of Operations Plans in order to provide essential services that the entire county relied upon. The other exercises involved natural disasters which affected all government agencies, emergency services and private industry. Significant after action items were identified by our staff as a result of conducting these exercises.

Event: Terrorism - Biological Agent HSEEP Table-Top Exercises
LOCATION: Miami-Dade County, Florida
CLIENT: Miami-Dade County, Office of Emergency Management

SCOPE OF WORK: "Operation Network Connections" was a TTX held in August, 2005, for ETSD (the County's main IT support complex). This exercise gave participants an opportunity to evaluate current plans, procedures and capabilities in an attempt to recover from a biological event which caused evacuation of critical facilities within the county. The exercise focused on key Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) components including mission essential functions, orders of succession, alternate facilities, communications, emergency notification and personnel accountability procedures along with vital records and databases in an attempt to return normalcy to the department.

Event: Terrorism WMD TOP-OFF HSEEP Exercise
LOCATION: Palm Beach County, Florida
CLIENT: Public Health

SCOPE OF WORK: This Top Officials TTX was conducted for the Sheriff, Police Chief (City of West Palm Beach), Public Safety Director, Public Health Director, Emergency Management Director, Fire Chief, County Administrator, State Attorney and FBI Resident Agent in Charge. The exercise was developed and designed to present unique challenges for Executive Management within Palm Beach County in dealing with a series of terrorist scenarios which included radiological and chemical attacks on the water supply, radioactive IED's (dirty bombs), biological attacks using a highly contagious pathogenic agent, and a large vehicle bomb (LVB) assembled by a radical extremist group operating within the county. These scenarios were well received by participants and allowed them to focus on key issues such as alert notification, threat assessment procedures, fusion center concepts, inter-agency communications, technical capabilities, resource requirements, media and public relations, emergency management of mass casualty events and planning, prevention and mitigation strategies. Significant after action items were identified through this exercise.

Event: WMD HSEEP Functional/Full Scale Exercise and WMD HSEEP Table-Top Exercise
LOCATION: Alachua County, Florida
CLIENT: Alachua County Department of Emergency Management

SCOPE OF WORK: We developed and conducted a large Table-Top Exercise for 8 major agencies /organizations in Alachua County including the University of Florida, which involved multiple acts of terrorism across the nation affecting multiple universities. Our team also conducted a functional exercise for all major emergency response agencies/organizations including the University of Florida. The scenario involved terrorists detonating a large vehicle bomb (LVB) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida during a Gators Football Game. The blast took out the Stadium Command Post and Command Staff including University of Florida Police Officials as well as several thousand spectators.

Event: Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) Strategic National Stockpile TTX Exercise
LOCATION: Missouri and Kansas
CLIENT: Mid-America Regional Council

SCOPE OF WORK: Our team designed and conducted an exercise that tested the region's response to a large, evolving infectious disease emergency, and provided detailed After Action Reports. We completed an exercise that tested the region's response to a large, evolving infectious disease emergency. The objectives for the exercise were as follows: clarify local responder roles in a public health emergency, clarify each discipline's roles in isolation and quarantine, clarify each discipline's roles in mass prophylaxis dispensing, demonstrate an understanding of mass prophylaxis dispensing, demonstrate an understanding of prioritization of dispensing SNS materials, and clarify protocol for activating and dispensing local caches of pharmaceuticals.

Event: Terrorism WMD HSEEP TTX
LOCATION: Polk County, Florida
CLIENT: Polk County Department of Emergency Management

SCOPE OF WORK: We designed, conducted a Table-Top Exercise in Polk County with various county and city agencies participating including law enforcement, fire rescue, emergency management, public health, EMS, hospitals and communication centers. The scenario involved an act of Terrorism which caused the release of large amounts of chlorine gas during a special event which was being held within the county.

Event: Terrorism & Public Health Crisis HSEEP Functional Exercise
LOCATION: Columbus, Ohio
CLIENT: Department of Health, Joint Information Center

SCOPE OF WORK: O'Gara professionals worked with the Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Emergency Management Agency on an exercise where a Field JIC and a State "Home Base" JIC was activated. The purpose of this exercise was to demonstrate the elements and protocols that must be in place at the state level in order to manage the flow of information surrounding a Public Health crisis and simultaneous terrorist related events.

Event: State of Ohio Governor's TOP-OFF HSEEP Exercise
LOCATION: Ohio
CLIENT: Bureau of Public Health Preparedness

SCOPE OF WORK: This Top Officials Exercise, developed specifically for the Governor's Office and Top Officials within the State, provided a forum for discussion of key policy issues identified during the initial SNS Table-Top Exercise held for operational level personnel within the state. The goal of the exercise was to establish a learning environment to evaluate emergency response capabilities and procedures for supporting the activation of the Ohio SNS Plan. The exercise focused on executive policy issues, triggers for emergency response, state agency roles in supporting the SNS Plan, and communications between agencies, with the media and the public.

Event: State of Ohio Strategic National Stockpile HSEEP Table-Top Exercise
LOCATION: Ohio
CLIENT: Bureau of Public Health Preparedness

SCOPE OF WORK: The purpose of this exercise was to demonstrate the elements and protocols that must be in place at the state level in order to activate the SNS in Ohio, the flow of communication that is necessary for an event of this nature, and each state agency's roles and responsibilities in the command and control structure (e.g. how decisions are made and who is responsible for each decision). This exercise provided a means to assess policies, resources, communication and coordination, as well as command and control for state agencies at the operational level as it relates to SNS activation to be able to deal with a large scale incident involving the entire state such as a Pandemic Outbreak.

Event: Pandemic Influenza HSEEP Table-Top Exercise and Pandemic Influenza Exercise
LOCATION: Seminole County, Florida
CLIENT: Department of Public Safety - Emergency Management Division

SCOPE OF WORK: O'Gara experts developed and conducted one Table-Top Exercise for all operational units and another TOPOFF Exercise for the Seminole County Department of Public Safety - Emergency Management Division. Both exercises focused on a Pandemic Influenza Event. The first exercise was for all county/city departments including public health, hospitals, EMS, emergency management, fire-rescue, police and other ESF components. The second exercise, which focused on key policy issues, was a Top Officials (TOPOFF) exercise for elected officials and other decision-makers.

Event: Progress Energy Corp. TOP-OFF Pandemic Influenza Functional Exercise
LOCATION: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida
CLIENT: Progress Energy Corp

SCOPE OF WORK: Our team developed and conducted a Functional Exercise for Progress Energy key operational units and Top Officials responsible for maintaining critical energy infrastructure operations during a pandemic event in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The exercise focused on the implementation of emergency response actions needed to continue essential functions which would allow critical infrastructure operations to continue despite high rates of absenteeism in the work place and disruptions to the delivery of supplies from outside vendors. Operational business units interacted with each other to resolve problems posed by inject information during the exercise. Operational business units also interfaced with the Executive Crisis Management Center to provide updates, proposed solutions and obtain executive direction for major issues affecting the power grid and company personnel.

Event: Tampa Bay Joint Exercise TB-UASI, and Tampa LEPC
LOCATION: Tampa Florida
CLIENT: Tampa Bay UASI and LEPC

SCOPE OF WORK: We assisted in the development and facilitation of a Joint Exercise involving Special Events in the HSEEP format with the Tampa Police Department, Tampa Bay UASI, Tampa Bay LEPC, to include Raymond James Stadium, NFL, FBI, Local, Regional, State, and Federal response to an incident.

Event: Table-Top Exercise
LOCATION: Cincinnati, Ohio
CLIENT: Cincinnati Water Works

SCOPE OF WORK: This exercise involved an earthquake scenario causing the destruction of key infrastructure and a possible mass-contamination of the drinking water of over 1,000,000 people. The exercise tested their ability to function under NIMS-ICS, and operate independently of the local Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Continuity of Operations Planning was also evaluated as part of the exercise.

Event: Terrorism Non-Government Organization E.O.C. Top Exercise
LOCATION: Polk County, Florida
CLIENT: Polk County Department of Emergency Management

SCOPE OF WORK: Polk County Emergency Management staff and members of several volunteer organizations (including the Red Cross, United Way of Florida, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, etc.) to develop an exercise that focused on the ability of NGOs to function effectively within an Area Command during a terrorist incident or natural disaster. A Table-Top Exercise was designed, conducted and evaluated in order to promote understanding of each agency's role in support of integration of Nongovernmental agencies within Polk County to assist the Emergency Operations Center during response to a major incident.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: Nevada (statewide)
CLIENT: Nevada Department of Emergency Management

SCOPE OF WORK: We are presently providing comprehensive NIMS-ICS 100, 200, 300, 400, 401, 402, and multiple advanced Position-Specific ICS courses to the entire State of Nevada. The attendees come from first responder organizations, state, local, tribal government, military and private industry.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: State of Minnesota
CLIENT: Minnesota Department of Transportation

SCOPE OF WORK: Our team provided comprehensive NIMS-ICS 300 and 400 courses to the State of Minnesota. The attendees came from first responder organizations as well as state and local government.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: South Carolina (statewide)
CLIENT: South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy

SCOPE OF WORK: We provided comprehensive NIMS-ICS 300 and 400 courses to the entire State of South Carolina. The attendees came from first responder organizations as well as state and local government.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: Ohio
CLIENT: Public Health

SCOPE OF WORK: O'Gara experts provided comprehensive NIMS-ICS 300 and 400 courses to the State of Ohio. The attendees came from Public Health agencies for training that was custom-designed for personnel working in the Public Health environment.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: State of Ohio
CLIENT: Public Health

SCOPE OF WORK: We provided comprehensive NIMS-ICS 300, 400 and 800 training for the entire State of Ohio including the state capital and the seven regional areas throughout the state. The attendees came from the Ohio Department of Health and other first responder agencies.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
CLIENT: Alachua County, Florida

SCOPE OF WORK: Our team provided training for Incident Command System 100, 200 & 700 at the request of the Alachua County Office of Emergency Management. Multiple first responder agencies and departments within the county participated in the training.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: State of Florida, Department of State
CLIENT: Department of Elections

SCOPE OF WORK: We provide Incident Command System 100, 200, 300 and 400 & 700 level courses for the Department of State, Division of Elections in Tallahassee.

Event: CBRNE Training
LOCATION: Arlington, Virginia
CLIENT: Pentagon Force Protection Agency

SCOPE OF WORK: Our team provided training to over 70,000 military and civilian personnel on the use of emergency escape respirators. This project is a historical event because for the first time, a large number of civilians have been trained on procedures and equipment designed to provide protection against chemical, biological and radiological agents.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: Hamilton County, Ohio
CLIENT: Hamilton County

SCOPE OF WORK: We provided training for Incident Command System 100, 200, 300, 400 & 700 at the request of the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management. Multiple first responder agencies and departments within the county participated in the training.

Event: Critical Infrastructural Protection Assessment Training
LOCATION: West Palm Beach, Florida
CLIENT: Palm Beach County Court System

SCOPE OF WORK: O'Gara security experts provided Critical Infrastructural Protection Assessment Training, for Law Enforcement to include the uses of various nationally-recognized assessment methodologies. This training included assessments in a controlled environment and in the field, using the Palm Beach Assessment Tool.

Event: "First on Scene" Training
LOCATION: West Palm Beach, Florida
CLIENT: Palm Beach County Court System

SCOPE OF WORK: We provided training and overview of response an incident, Incident Command System basic training, and Hazardous Incident Team set-up. This training was developed for the Palm Beach County Court House personnel in response to dealing with incidents in a courthouse environment.

Event: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: San Joaquin County, California
CLIENT: San Joaquin County Public Health Services

SCOPE OF WORK: Our team provided Incident Command System G-300 (Intermediate) and G-400 (Advanced) courses for the Disease Control and Prevention Division of the San Joaquin County Public Health Services.

EVENT: NIMS-ICS Training
LOCATION: Seminole County, Florida
CLIENT: Division of Emergency Management

SCOPE OF WORK: We provided three iterations of the G-300 (Intermediate) and G-400 (Advanced) Incident Command System Training to emergency managers, first responders and other members of the county government.

Event: FBI Hazardous Materials Response Unit
CLIENT: Federal Bureau of Investigations

SCOPE OF WORK: Experts from O'Gara provided direct instructional support for two courses conducted for the FBI Hazardous Materials Response Unit. These courses cover a myriad of topics in the WMD response arena. This includes training students to utilize personal protective equipment and the evaluation of field exercises for collection of evidence in a contaminated environment.

Event: Counter Terrorism Training and National Response Plan Development
CLIENT: United Arab Emirates

SCOPE OF WORK: O'Gara professionals developed and delivered CT-based training for the UAE's National Level Agencies, which included NIMS-ICS, Critical Infrastructure Protection and Continuity of Operations Planning.

Event: Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP)
LOCATION: Washington, DC.
CLIENT: General Services Administration

SCOPE OF WORK: In preparation for GSA's role in the 2008 Executive Branch COOP exercise our firm was tasked with assessing the Office of Citizen Services and Communications continuity capabilities. As part of this project our team developed a comprehensive re-write of the office's continuity of operations plan to ensure it met new Federal Continuity Directive-1 guidance. Our team also conducted training for the office to ensure they were capable of implementing the plan and conducted a functional exercise as a dress rehearsal for their role in the larger federal exercise project.

Event: Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP)
CLIENT: Miami-Dade County, Florida

SCOPE OF WORK: In 2005, we delivered multiple COOP training courses to planning coordinators within 25 different departments which did not have a current plan, and review initial draft plans to include making recommendations for COOP improvement. We were also contracted to evaluate the plans of 28 other departments within the county which already had plans in place through a series of 5 Table Top Exercises that addressed vital areas of contingency planning.

Event: Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP)
CLIENT: University of Florida, Alachua County Florida
SCOPE OF WORK: The experts at O'Gara have trained multiple clients in understanding COOP core concepts and assisted numerous government and private agencies in developing their Continuity of Operations Plan. The University of Florida COOP plan was in cooperation with the college and Alachua County.

Event: County Emergency Management Plans (CEMP)
CLIENT: Florida International University

SCOPE OF WORK: Our team assisted the FIU Police Department in developing a COOP to be used for managing large scale incidents affecting the campus such as category 2 - 5 hurricanes. We have also assisted clients in evaluating their COOP by conducting practical exercises, which is essential to demonstrating, assessing, and improving an agency's capabilities in plan execution.