9 April, 2018
FRAMINGHAM, MA – On Tuesday, April 10, 2018, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), in collaboration with the Boston Athletic Association (BAA), the 8 cities and towns that host the Marathon, and the dozens of local, regional, state and federal agencies that support public safety operations for the event, will conduct a large-scale functional exercise for the 2018 Boston Marathon. During the exercise, the Unified Coordination Center (UCC) at MEMA headquarters in Framingham will be fully activated with 250 liaisons from 70 local, state and federal agencies, private non-profit organizations and private sector companies. The UCC will replicate race-day operations, serving as the public safety coordination center for the Marathon. Local Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) in the 8 cities and towns that host the Boston Marathon, and the BAA Race Operations Center, also will participate in the exercise.
During the Boston Marathon, the UCC will coordinate multi-jurisdictional public safety operations in support of the 30,000 official participants and hundreds of thousands of spectators.
The exercise will test the operational, coordination, communications, and decision making capabilities of the UCC, local EOCs and the Race Operations Center, and enable all stakeholders to assess their readiness for the Boston Marathon. During the exercise, participants will work through plausible scenarios that will test the comprehensive public safety plans for the Marathon.
Media is invited to tour and take video of the UCC and gain an understanding of the Boston Marathon Multi-Jurisdictional Public Safety Plan.
