The Louisiana Emergency Response Network (LERN) is a state government agency created by the Louisiana Legislature in 2004 with the responsibility of developing and maintaining a state care coordination system for patients suddenly affected by a serious traumatic injury or urgent illness. This system is designed to serve as a vital health resource in the face of emergencies and large scale natural disasters, ensuring that those in need get to the right place at the right time to receive the right care. The network's headquarters is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Crisis Response Command is comprised of the Emergency Operations Center, the Consolidated Communications Unit at Headquarters, and mobile command posts.
This command provides operational support to all sections of the Louisiana State Police, as well as to local, state, and federal agencies. It also monitors the hazardous materials reporting hotline, the Louisiana State Police's suspicious activity reporting hotline, and the Information Center's hotline on missing and exploited children. Additionally, it reports incidents at the River Bend, Grand Gulf, and Waterford III nuclear facilities during afternoons, weekends, and holidays. Crisis response personnel and the CIMS team can monitor major evacuation routes through the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) network to provide real-time information during an evacuation. The Headquarters Consolidated Communications Unit operates 24 hours a day and is located in the Louisiana State Police Emergency Operations Center.
It also provides a continuous radio communications gateway to other law enforcement agencies and state agencies in Louisiana using the 700 MHz P25 system known as the Louisiana Wireless Interoperability Network (LWIN).The Louisiana State Police has two mobile command posts (MCP) in its fleet that can be quickly deployed in all areas of the state to support its response to critical incidents. The EOC plays a crucial role in managing critical incidents for the Louisiana State Police and has been activated for a wide variety of events, including response to inclement weather, security details for presidential visits and government inaugurations; and other emergency response activities, such as incidents involving hazardous materials, the Columbia space shuttle disaster, and multi-jurisdictional police operations.
