CHICAGO, Ill., Aug. 27, 2010 -- A first-of-its-kind mutual-aid training exercise designed to demonstrate the feasibility of dispatching, mobilizing and deploying hundreds of emergency vehicles and personnel during a state-wide incident came off without a hitch last week during a timed demonstration broadcast live over the Internet. (See video clip below.)

The multi-location exercise was organized by MABAS, the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System of Illinois. Held simultaneously on Thursday in three suburban Chicago communities -- Tinley Park, Glenview and Hoffman Estates -- the drill was planned to coincide with Fire-Rescue International (FRI) 2010, held this year at uring the timed demonstration, 297 fire engines and EMS vehicles along with 924 firefighters from four states were successfully dispatched, checked in, validated, and demobilized. The massive amount of resources responded, arrived on scene and were identified within 90 minutes. Within just the first 45 minutes, 736 of the firefighters with Tier 2 credential cards were processed, with all 924 processed in 70 minutes.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, keynote speaker at FRI's opening session on Thursday, viewed the ground-breaking exercise live on closed-captioned TV from McCormick Place. Local Chicago media covered the event as it unfolded.

Several industry leaders were instrumental in the success of the MABAS-led exercise, including Traverse City, Mich.-based Salamander Technologies (Sal-Tech), which provided several automated tracking solutions from their InterTRAX suite of products, including:

• MOBILE™ PIV software to validate the Tier 2 credentials and sync data to COMMAND
• rapidTAG™ software to create high-capacity, machine-readable ID tags and form companies
• COMMAND™ software to receive and consolidate data on an electronic command board
• InterTRAX® exchange software for off-site data sharing via the Web

MABAS acquired the accountability tools used in the exercise through IdentiSys, a Sal-Tech Regional Technical Center solution provider. Sal-Tech and IdentiSys worked closely with MABAS for two years to engineer a cost-effective solution for its asset management, identification, incident management and interoperability field requirements.

Sal-Tech Vice President Mike Whelan expressed his pride in playing a role in such a critical test. "Through this exercise, MABAS clearly demonstrated that with the proper planning, personnel and accountability tools, it is possible to be well prepared for a disaster. MABAS is setting the standard for emergency services response protocols."

Salamander Technologies, Inc. provides simple, scalable, and interoperable accountability systems -- from the tag to the Web -- for first responders that comply with National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Personal Identity Verification (PIV) mandates. www.salamandertechnologies.com.