All systems were certainly go at an intensive search and rescue training exercise on Saturday off Lake Street, the town's emergency management director said.
The drill involved several law enforcement and emergency management agencies and the scenario was a simulated small place crash in the woods behind the reservoir.
The staging area was at Lake Street School.
The Vernon mayor's office and the Vernon Fire Department supported the operations, Purcaro said.
"The training exercise was a success," Emergency Management Director Michael Purcaro said. "We met our training goals and objectives and all simulated victims and participant responders were safely accounted for. Equally as important, I think we all gained valuable experience and learned from each other - and that will definitely have a positive impact on our real-world search and rescue operations."
Key elements were the local Fiore Department and the local CERT Team, and they worked well with two key outside agencies, Purcaro said.
"The professionalism and discipline of the Connecticut Canine and Mountain Bike Search and Rescue Teams was extraordinary," he said. "Their response operations were crisply executed and they have effectively integrated the best equipment and global positioning technologies with the best trained personnel. Their response capabilities and outcomes were very impressive."
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