TheFluMaster
Resident
Mesa to test pandemic readiness
Josh Kelley
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 18, 2006 06:56 AM
City, school and county officials will conduct an emergency drill at Westwood High today to test how prepared Mesa is for a flu pandemic or widespread illness.
As students leave school, they will fill out questionnaires and receive bags with emergency information and a snack.
The point of the exercise is to test the city's plans for a crisis situation and determine how to improve the response, said Ivard Brimley, a Mesa Fire Department spokesman.
"They want to see how long it takes to have a group come through, how the people work, how they keep records," Brimley said. "It's just a test of the system."
Officials chose to conduct the drill at a high school because it's a common meeting place for a community to gather during an emergency to receive supplies or information.
"Without doing a drill, it's hard to know what . . . we need to make changes on," Brimley said.
Mesa Public Schools, the city and Maricopa County partnered for the drill.
Nadine Miller, director of health services for the school district, said Westwood was chosen because it was an effective partner in the past on an emergency exercise, and the school sits within a community, not a major street apart from neighborhoods.
The drill Wednesday is a test of the county's plan, which has been used across the country, for dispensing medication during an emergency.
Officials will be looking at flow patterns and assessing how to most effectively take cars through the campus, get people to fill out a screening form and distribute information about the emergency, Miller said.
Although students take part in the drill, the goal is to have families learn to be prepared at home during a disaster situation, Miller said.
Next month, officials are planning a second drill in Mesa that will give more than 4,000 participants flu shots as they drive through a parking lot.
The date has not been announced and is contingent on flu vaccine availability, Brimley said.
That event will not be at Westwood and will involve people who have agreed to participate before the drill.
There will be no medication administered Wednesday at Westwood.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/1018mr-drilladvance1018-ON.html#
Josh Kelley
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 18, 2006 06:56 AM
City, school and county officials will conduct an emergency drill at Westwood High today to test how prepared Mesa is for a flu pandemic or widespread illness.
As students leave school, they will fill out questionnaires and receive bags with emergency information and a snack.
The point of the exercise is to test the city's plans for a crisis situation and determine how to improve the response, said Ivard Brimley, a Mesa Fire Department spokesman.
"They want to see how long it takes to have a group come through, how the people work, how they keep records," Brimley said. "It's just a test of the system."
Officials chose to conduct the drill at a high school because it's a common meeting place for a community to gather during an emergency to receive supplies or information.
"Without doing a drill, it's hard to know what . . . we need to make changes on," Brimley said.
Mesa Public Schools, the city and Maricopa County partnered for the drill.
Nadine Miller, director of health services for the school district, said Westwood was chosen because it was an effective partner in the past on an emergency exercise, and the school sits within a community, not a major street apart from neighborhoods.
The drill Wednesday is a test of the county's plan, which has been used across the country, for dispensing medication during an emergency.
Officials will be looking at flow patterns and assessing how to most effectively take cars through the campus, get people to fill out a screening form and distribute information about the emergency, Miller said.
Although students take part in the drill, the goal is to have families learn to be prepared at home during a disaster situation, Miller said.
Next month, officials are planning a second drill in Mesa that will give more than 4,000 participants flu shots as they drive through a parking lot.
The date has not been announced and is contingent on flu vaccine availability, Brimley said.
That event will not be at Westwood and will involve people who have agreed to participate before the drill.
There will be no medication administered Wednesday at Westwood.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/1018mr-drilladvance1018-ON.html#