New Mexico State University and several local, state and federal agencies participated Thursday in the second of two planned trainings this week, focusing on the treatment of an unconscious man that led to a possible hazardous materials investigation. 

U.S. Army North, which is responsible for developing and sustaining training and response capabilities for numerous Civil Support Teams throughout the U.S. and its territories, coordinated both exercises for the 64th Civil Support Team, based out of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. 

Thursday's scenario involved the discovery of an unconscious man by a cleaning crew working on the third floor of the Stan Fulton Center on NMSU's Las Cruces campus. In the training scenario, the area where the man was found contained evidence that appeared to be hazardous, leading NMSU police and fire officials to enlist support from the Las Cruces Fire Department's hazmat team, U.S. Army North, the 64th Civil Support Team, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. 

NMSU provided incident command and response capability to enable the team to interface and integrate with other local, state and federal resources, conduct threat and hazard assessment and assist in accomplishing incident command goals and objectives. 

The 64th Civil Support Team provided assistance to the Las Cruces Fire Department's hazmat team to verify their findings of the materials found at the scene and support mitigation and decontamination efforts. 

On Tuesday, NMSU police and fire personnel participated in another training exercise involving service of a high-risk warrant and the discovery of another hazardous materials situation requiring a multi-agency response. 

NMSU Deputy Police Chief Justin Dunivan said taken together, the two training exercises provided NMSU first responders a chance to test and practice their crisis response procedures and ensure they are well prepared in the event of a real large-scale emergency response on campus. 

"These exercises provided a great opportunity for all first responders and public safety entities to work together in identifying both strengths and areas needing improvement to further safeguard our local community," Dunivan said. 

To learn more about NMSU's administrative regulations regarding emergency preparedness and response, visit https://arp.nmsu.edu/16-10 /. 

The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-completes-successful-multi-agency-crisis-management-training/s/8fcd78c5-8503-400d-9d86-4e59db36feba