Law enforcement from across the county, EMS teams from hospitals across the Big Horn Basin and even troops from the Wyoming National Guard will converge on Northwest College the second week in June for a mass casualty training event.

Cody physician Elise Lowe, the Big Horn Basin Healthcare Coalition’s physician adviser and a member of Park County Search and Rescue, said it’ll be the first such event at the college in seven years.

“There have been multi agency trainings in the past, including another hosted by Northwest College in 2016, but this will be the first of this magnitude and breadth,” she said in a Friday interview.

The law-enforcement response will be a collaboration between Powell Police as the first responders, supported by Cody Police and Park County Sheriff. Lowe said there will be EMS response from at least four agencies led by Powell Valley EMS and at least six hospitals involved. The Region 6 Wyoming rapid emergency response team will come in for the hazmat response, in addition to the National Guard and the Big Horn Basin Healthcare Coalition and other agencies.

“This will be the first time that all these players are involved,” Lowe said. “This exercise is critically important to bolster regional preparedness and cooperation for disaster response.”

The training will involve a violent incident and a hazmat emergency that will require the resources of numerous local and regional first responders and specialty teams, multiple aircraft, as well as a request for National Guard resources. There are expected to be over 300 participants and the training is expected to bolster emergency preparedness at the county, region and state levels, according to a press release.

The National Guard will be conducting exercises around the state that week as part of the Vigilant Guard training sponsored by U.S. Northern Command. The purpose is to evaluate the capabilities of civilian and military first responders and emergency management personnel in responding to real-life emergencies. The release notes the exercise will strengthen partnerships and improve communication and coordination. 

There will be progressive training leading up to the full-scale exercise, starting with a law enforcement and emergency medical services tabletop exercise in March and an all-players tabletop in April.

“A full-scale exercise of this magnitude brings together all of the skills and training practiced by our first responders, allowing us to collaborate and coordinate to serve our community,” Lowe said in the release. “The training will help us respond to all types of threats, from violence to infrastructure interruption to natural disasters.”