Anoka County Press Release
For Immediate
Release
Jerry Soma, Anoka County Human Services Division Manager,
763-422-7008 |
June 9, 2008 |
OPERATION RESPOND III HELPS COUNTY PREPARE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH
EMERGENCIES
Anoka County Community Health and Environmental Services (CHES) Department
staff conducted a public health emergency response drill May 21 at
the National Sports Center in Blaine. The drill involved dozens of
county staff and volunteers from area law enforcement, fire
services, Mercy and Unity hospitals, the Medical Reserve Corps, the
Minnesota Department of Health, the County Attorney’s Office, the
Office of the Sheriff, plus the CHES medical director and local ham
radio operators. The purpose of the drill, called Operation Respond
III, was to practice the set up of a dispensing site clinic for a
large-scale distribution of medications.
The simulated scenario for the drill was this: At various
sporting events throughout the Twin Cities an airborne infectious
disease agent is released simultaneously. The Governor of Minnesota
declares a state of emergency. Anoka County, along with the other
metro counties, is asked to open one of its mass dispensing sites to
assist with providing medication to the thousands of Minnesota
citizens who were present at the sporting events.
There are several objectives for an exercise like this, according
to Anoka County Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah, chair of the county’s
human services committee.
“Plans, procedures and communication systems need to be tested
and exercised in order to make sure they’ll be effective in a real
emergency,” Sivarajah said.
Several evaluators were present throughout the exercise,
according to Rina McManus, director, Anoka County Community Health
and Environmental Services Department.
“Our evaluators looked at the operation through the eyes of
someone who had been exposed and needed medication,” McManus said.
“The feedback we received was invaluable for determining how to set
up a clinic site and move large numbers of people thru the process.”
The daylong event also included a tabletop exercise. The same
simulated infectious agent scenario was used, with the focus of the
discussion on the transportation of clinic supplies and medications
from one site to another. Nearly 30 people participated,
representing the same community partners from the morning’s drill.
Operation Respond III is the third large exercise of this type
the CHES Department has conducted on public health emergency
preparedness. For more information on public health emergency
preparedness planning in Anoka County, contact the CHES Department,
Disease Prevention and Control Section, at 763-422-6965.
Tabletop participants discussed transportation planning strategies.
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A volunteer “patient” in the Anoka County
emergency drill May 21 at the National Sports Center in Blaine
receives pretend medication from staff member Lois Whitehorn, a
Public Health Nurse, while the process is critiqued by Dean Kapler,
Ramsey Fire Department, and Milo Bennett, Centennial Fire
Department.
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page last updated -
06/10/2008
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