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FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is prepared to respond quickly to an emergency, thanks to a new $101,800 mobile command center.
The mobile command center is a 44-foot trailer outfitted with radios and other equipment, allowing it to communicate with other state, federal and local authorities. The unit will be staffed by KDA officials and towed to the scene of an agricultural emergency such as a foreign animal disease outbreak. Generators allow it to operate in areas without electricity.
“Government’s first responsibility is to protect the people. Since 9/11, the KDA has worked hard to upgrade its capabilities to respond to any type of agricultural emergency, from animal disease outbreaks to acts of terrorism,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “Last year’s hurricanes reminded us all that it’s important to act quickly and decisively in the event of an emergency. The mobile command center will enable the Department to bring the necessary resources to bear to an emergency scene, and do it fast.”
“The mobile command center has radio equipment that allows us to have a degree of interoperability with mobile responders or other state agencies,” said Dr. Ed Hall, assistant director of the KDA’s Division of Animal Health. “We have the ability to program our radios to talk to anybody. So if there’s a problem anywhere, we have the capability to move into that section of Kentucky and set up an operations center there.”
The mobile command center was purchased with two grants. A $67,000 grant from the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security provided the communications equipment. A $34,800 grant from the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management provided the trailer, which will be stored ready to roll at the Boone National Guard Center in Frankfort.
Hall came up with the idea of a mobile command center during a visit to North Carolina. “Their people [in the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services] have vehicles they can operate out of in an emergency,” he said. Hall thought a similar unit for the KDA would improve its emergency response capacity and benefit Kentucky’s citizens. “Other states have bought trailers to store supplies and materials, but we’re using it for the command component,” he said.
Hall said the mobile command center will make appearances around the state at major events such as the North American International Livestock Exposition and the Kentucky State Fair. “These appearances will serve as training opportunities to teach our staff how to use the unit,” he said.
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