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Release Date: 03/28/05 00:00:00
Top Officials 3 (TOPOFF 3) is the most comprehensive terrorism response exercise ever conducted in the United States. The full-scale exercise, taking place in the United States from April 4-8, 2005, will involve participants from international, federal, state, local, tribal, and private sector agencies and non-governmental organizations. In the United States, participants will respond to simulated, simultaneous and multi-point attacks taking place in Connecticut and New Jersey.
TOPOFF 3 is a congressionally mandated exercise series managed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness.
The state of Connecticut is one of the two state venues selected to participate in TOPOFF 3. During the week of April 4-8, 2005, Connecticut will be testing the ability of its state and local government to plan for and respond to a chemical attack.
Specifically, the exercise will test the state’s ability to coordinate inter-agency preparedness and response plans to a terrorist-generated chemical incident, provide decontamination of large numbers of victims, test the surge capacity of the hospital system state wide, conduct criminal and environmental investigations, and exercise the states newly formed Urban Search and Rescue Team. Connecticut will use this full-scale exercise to examine the strengths and weaknesses of states’ preparedness and response plans.
TOPOFF is the cornerstone of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Training and Exercise Program, and for the planning period, has become the cornerstone of Connecticut efforts as well. This program will bring a wealth of national and international expertise and resources to the state of Connecticut. Lessons learned form this experience will be shared with every community across our state to leverage the experience and the overall preparedness of the state.
The United States Department of Homeland Security and the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) have responsibility for oversight of the TOPOFF exercise in the State of Connecticut. Effective, January 1, 2005, this new Connecticut agency brings together the Department of Public Safety, Division of Homeland Security, the Military Department and the Office of Emergency Management. The University of Connecticut’s College of Continuing Studies is partnering with of the State of Connecticut and DHS in the implementation and evaluation of the exercise, assuming the lead coordination and administrative role within the state.
The following State, local, and private agencies and organizations have participated in the planning and implementation of TOPOFF; Office of the Governor, Department of Public Health, Department Environmental Protection, Department of Public Safety, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Department of Transportation, the Military Department, representatives from local and regional first responder agencies, 32 state hospitals, the 211 emergency information center, as well as many private and not for profit organizations.
For More Information:
Connecticut Office of Emergency Management www.ct.gov/demhs/
Key Connecticut Contacts for Public Information:
State of Connecticut
Office of the Governor
Dennis Schain
(860) 524-7313
dennis.schain@po.state.ct.us
State of Connecticut
Department of Emergency Management & Homeland Security
Michele Sullivan
860-418-6292
michele.sullivan@po.state.ct.us
City of New London
Richard Brown
860-447-5201
rbrown@ci.new-london.ct.us
Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security TOPOFF 3 State Coordinator
University of Connecticut
Robert Ross
860-566-1195
rob.ross@uconn.edu
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Mar. 28, 2005
This page was last reviewed/modified on 03/28/05 00:00:00.