Operation Thunderstruck 2021

Indiana and Kentucky came together to run a multi-state Full-Scale Exercise around the Jeffersonville, IN and Louisville, KY border to assess procedures in response to a Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack (CCTA).

Salamander Solutions Used

• SalamanderLive™
• TRACK APP
• RAPID TAG EVAC
• COMMAND

Outcome

On October 1, 2021, 500 participants and 50 organizations participated in the one-day exercise called Operation Thunderstruck in Jeffersonville, IN and Louisville, KY. The exercise would include assistance from Police, Fire, EMS, Emergency Management, and Public Health. Members from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, American Red Cross, FEMA, and more were also in attendance.

The scenario consisted of a coordinated attack on two states at the same time with multiple active shooters, vehicle as a weapon attack, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) based mass casualty incidents, and secondary devices strategically placed during the Thunder Over Louisville Event. Salamander was used on both sides of the equation, participant side as well as the exercise side.

Prior to the event, SalamanderLive was used to pre-credential everyone participating in the exercise. These “real world” credentials were used to easily identify participants as they arrived on-scene for the exercise. Those included in the pre-credentialing were players, controllers, simulators, evaluators, actors, observers, media personnel, and support staff. This give the ability to know who should and should not be on-scene during the exercise.

On the exercise side, as the exercise moved along, and actors became “injured or deceased”, medical teams would evaluate the individual and create a credential using the RAPID TAG EVAC solution. For those that did not receive medical attention, credentials were also created with RAPID TAG EVAC to account for those visitors to then help them through the reunification process. The relocation process included removing individuals off-scene, transporting them via bussing, checking them into the reunification center at a different location, and then reunifying them with family members in the safe zone. Throughout the whole process, all individuals were accounted for real-time and were being monitored on COMMAND. COMMAND provided a bird’s eye view of the event. This solution created a common operating picture and displayed all the assignments, PAR counts, and specifically who was in each of them.

Salamander’s TRACK APP was utilized throughout the event on a mobile device, to quickly scan individual’s RAPID TAG EVAC credential they received and placing them in the correct assignment providing real-time accountability. Because of this, once the reunification process began, a simple lookup could be made to reunite a number of people in seconds.