Elgin fire and police departments and Advocate Sherman Hospital will conduct a training exercise focusing on a domestic terrorism scenario from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 3, in and around Sherman Hospital’s 901 Center Street location.

The drill will involve federal, state and local public safety entities including the Kane County Office of Emergency Management, multiple Kane County fire departments, Mutual Aid Box Alarm System-IL (MABAS-IL), Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Exercises like this instill confidence in federal, state and local emergency responders and give them a chance to work side-by-side with other agencies and support groups before an actual incident,” said Elgin Assistant Fire Chief David Schmidt.

The majority of the drill will be conducted inside the building and across the street in the two adjacent parking lots. Slade Avenue will be closed intermittently between Spring Street and Prospect Avenue. Residents can expect multiple emergency vehicles and possibly some residual light smoke or smoke odor in the area.

The training initiative is funded through MABAS-IL, in conjunction with the Illinois Terrorism Task Force and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“The goal of the initiative is to assist and support MABAS-IL in preparing for and responding to larger scale events where mobilization, deployment and self-sustainment may be expected,” Schmidt said.

In addition to that over-arching goal, responding agencies will be able to test their ability to develop and use the national command and operational structures; ensure timely communications between affected communities and all response forces; provide decision makers with relevant information regarding the nature and extent of the hazard, any cascading effects and the status of the response; and use resources (firefighting, medical care, hazardous materials, technical rescue, explosive ordinance disposal, crime scene investigation, evidence collection) to work collaboratively to mitigate the incident.

Questions regarding the training can be directed to the city’s 311 customer contact center by dialing 311 or if outside of Elgin, 847-931-6001.

SOURCE: city of Elgin press release