The New Hampshire National Guard's 12th Civil Support Team (CST) will be on campus next week, July 11-13, to conduct emergency response exercises in two UNH buildings. These exercises are being conducted in cooperation with the University Police Department, Durham Fire Department and UNH Office of Environmental Health and Safety. Although the locations of the exercises will not be released until the day of the event, occupants in affected buildings are being notified of the practice drills. Business will be conducted as usual as there will be minimal interaction with building personnel.

"We are very excited to have members of the CST here to share their expertise with us as part of our campus emergency preparedness efforts," says Bradford Manning, director of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at UNH. “This training exercise will provide a baseline for real-world operational response at the university. In the event the university ever experiences an actual incident, this pre-incident planning exercise will result in better coordination between federal, state and local emergency resources.”

The CST will hold an open house in the Woodside parking lot behind the UNH Whittemore Center on Wednesday, July 12, 2006, to demonstrate its equipment and capabilities. The display will begin at 10 a.m. and will review perimeter monitoring, incident commander radio interface, decontamination and other emergency support functions. This event is open to the public and will end at 2 p.m.

“The New Hampshire National Guard’s 12th CST is opening its doors to show us some of the latest technologies in dealing with a variety of emergency response scenarios,” says David Gillum, assistant director of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety. “It is a great learning opportunity for anyone interested in emergency preparedness and response.”

The mission of the CST is to support local authorities during a domestic chemical, biological or radiological incident. The CST has the ability to identify agents and substances, assess current and projected consequences, advise on response measures, and assist with appropriate requests for federal help.

The 12th CST was officially created in December 2004 and is located in Concord, New Hampshire. The team is staffed with 22 full-time service members from both the Army and Air National Guard. Three of the team members, including the Commander, are UNH alumni. For more information about the New Hampshire National Guard’s 12th Civil Support Team, better known as the “Wildcats,” please go to: https://www.nh.ngb.army.mil/CST/index.html.

For more information about the practice drills, please contact Bradford Manning at 862-4041.