CALDWELL, Idaho — Major emergencies can happen at any time, any place, and can impact many lives. So, Canyon County Emergency Services is assembling a team that will specialize in managing these disasters.
"Every incident that we go out on or we are assisting with. We can always learn something new," said Canyon County Emergency Manager Christine Wendelsdorf.
See how this new task force is training to prepare for major emergencies:
Training and preparing for emergency response are always evolving with new systems, techniques, and ways of protecting the public.
Ted Hardy, a Nampa Fire Battalion Chief who was putting his skills to the test, added, "This really is about building the teamwork and collaboration."
In Canyon County, they are building a team to specialize in responding to major emergency situations like a missing person or a destructive wildfire.
"The idea started about three and a half years ago. We recognized the need after COVID to make a team more capable of managing emergency incidents that happen within the county," explained Wendelsdorf. "We've trained several different people from various agencies in the county to make up our Type 3 team. We have Canyon County paramedics, Caldwell fire, Nampa fire, Caldwell police, Nampa police, Canyon County sheriff's office, and Idaho State Police."
This super team has been training for months. And now they are in the final test, having to manage two real-life scenarios — a search and rescue operation, as well as a wildfire tearing through a neighborhood.
Hardy ran me through his team's scenario, saying, "A young 28-year-old male went missing. On this operation, we have 200 individuals who are part of this response."
The two teams work nonstop to handle simulation calls, work with outside agencies, and find the best way to keep the public safe.
Now, once this training is over, the team is expected to be ready to serve by the end of July.