KDA exercise involves state-wide effort

 “After Burn” is the name of an emergency preparedness exercise led by the Kansas Department of Agriculture this week with a foot and mouth disease outbreak scenario.

Kansas Department of Agriculture Secretary Jackie McClaskey spoke with K-MAN during this week’s four day state-wide exercise, which was testing responses to just such a scenario with an additional pretend isolated ice storm in southeast Kansas.

Several rooms on two floors of the KDA building in Manhattan were occupied by exercise participants–with a new addition this year according to McClaskey. Actual farmers and ranchers worked with KDA during the exercise to say what steps they would take in their individual business unit, and how that impacts KDA from a state perspective.

Assistant Secretary Susan Metzger served in the exercise as the Multi-Agency Coordination Group Assistant. Metzger told K-MAN about a new tool that is being used this year, a large map of the state with designations pointing out where calls are coming from on the KDA hotline (pictured below).

There was even a separate public relations office participating, to update social media and put out news releases–and a pretend threat from a so-called Animal LIberation Front group. KDA Secretary Jackie McClaskey explains her folks don’t even know what to expect in such an exercise. Contractors give what are called “injects” which are sometimes predictable and sometimes not. And she says they get questions about things you can never imagine as part of the exercise.

Emergency Management Coordinator Sandy Johnson says it’s gone well, with Tuesday the busiest day and 127 people as part of the management team, as well as observers and industry representatives.  She says you learn a lot of things and what might not be working well–which is part of the purpose of the exercise.

Craig Beardsley whose every day title is Program Administrator for the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center at Kansas State University, was serving as a controller evaluator for the exercise. Beardsley adds while they hope such an event never occurs, it prepares them by establishing relationships and processes and ways to keep situational awareness and leadership.