RD386 - Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) 2014 Virginia Emergency Response Team Exercise (VERTEX) After-Action Report


Executive Summary:
The annual Virginia Emergency Response Team Exercise (VERTEX) series is intended to prepare the Commonwealth of Virginia for potential threats by measuring current capabilities, policies, and procedures against the requirements to properly mitigate, respond to, and recover from man-made and natural disasters impacting the Commonwealth. In 2014, VERTEX was a three-part exercise series focusing on state preparedness in the core capabilities areas of operational coordination, operational communications, public information and warning, public and private services and resources, mass care services and public health and medical services.

The overarching purpose of the 2014 VERTEX series was to conduct a series of exercises of varying degrees of complexity that engage the “Whole Community” with the Commonwealth; sufficient to respond and recover from multiple threats and hazards. The purpose of the Hurricane Capstone Series, MACC/Field Operations Functional Exercise (FE) was to improve evacuation procedures, logistical coordination, decision-making, information sharing, and sheltering operations in response to the approach of a Category 3 Hurricane.

The best means to this end was to conduct an operations-based exercise, to run at various times, on each of two consecutive days in response to the approach of a Category 3 Hurricane. The first day included a state-level functional exercise that focused on Emergency Operations Center (EOC) operations in response to a Category 3 Hurricane scenario. The second day of the exercise included a functional exercise of multiple EOC and shelter operations.