Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2008/06/18/news/news03.txt
Local agencies perform pandemic flu exercise
By Janene Scully/Associate Editor
Santa Barbara County and other agencies joined with local hospitals to perform a check-up on their response to a massive outbreak of illness affecting thousands of people.
The countywide pandemic influenza exercise began about 8 a.m. Tuesday, and wrapped up before noon.
The event involved firing up emergency operation centers for the county public health and sheriff's departments to test coordinated responses to requests for resources, risk communication, expansion of hospital and outpatient care and mass deaths.
Other participants included hospitals throughout the county, Vandenberg Air Force Base, UCSB, neighborhood clinics and nonprofit aid organization, Direct Relief International, which is based in Santa Barbara.
At most locations, this event didn't include any mock victims, but instead tested communication within, and between, the agencies that would deal with a large outbreak of a communicable flu.
?This is a simulation,? said Michele Mickiewicz, county public health department spokeswoman. ?We're sending messages like what would happen in a pandemic emergency and people are responding to them.?
Across the county, the event likely involved hundreds of health-care providers and others who would be involved if a widespread flu outbreak occurred, she said.
Among scenarios, hospitals were being flooded by thousands of patients and the health-care facilities were setting up large triage responses.
Officials believe this is the first time the county agencies and hospitals have simultaneously opened operation centers in a coordinated disaster exercise.
?This is much broader (than other exercises),? she said. ?This is the first one specifically related to a pandemic flu and involves all of our health-care partners.?
At Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria, a spokeswoman estimated dozens of people participated.
?We definitely take exercises like this very seriously,? said Marian spokeswoman Mandy Stanley. ?It's a great opportunity to make sure we're on the same page as other county organizations and if something like this happens we're prepared.?
The entire hospital took part in Tuesday's exercise, which lets the hospital staff deal with, in a practice setting, any issues that arise.
?We acted as though this was really happening,? she said. ?This helps us by letting us identify what we need to do to be prepared. It keeps us in practice in case this does happen. It just keeps it in forefront of our mind.?
At Marian, the scenario called for 35 patients admitted to the facility and some 100 showing up at the emergency room, including both those ill with flu and others deemed ?worry wells,? Stanley said.
To add more realism to its training, Lompoc Valley Medical Center used people to portray patients, including children, according to Jim White, safety officer and chief information hospital.
The drill measured two facets of a hospital's operations, including gauging interaction with other agencies.
?Then there's the internal part where we are dealing with patients, not only real patients because we had to stay open for business, but fictitious patients as well,? White said. ?I think we did pretty doggone good.?
Lompoc hospital officials put employees into roles for the drill to enhance their training and provide an opportunity to gain experience in responding to disasters.
After the drill ended, participants gathered ?to find out what worked and what didn't work,? Mickiewicz said.
For some participants in her agency, the drill provided valuable experience dealing with the county's emergency operations centers.
?They learned how they would fit in an overall response in a pandemic emergency,? she added.
Still, the drill pointed out the challenge of communication - keeping everybody involved in a huge emergency situation updated about the ever-changing conditions, such as one hospital's inability to handle any more patients or where to send needed supplies.
?That's what is always challenging in a disaster,? she said.
Janene Scully can be reached at 739-2214 or janscully@lompocrecord.com.
June 18, 2008
Local agencies perform pandemic flu exercise
By Janene Scully/Associate Editor
Santa Barbara County and other agencies joined with local hospitals to perform a check-up on their response to a massive outbreak of illness affecting thousands of people.
The countywide pandemic influenza exercise began about 8 a.m. Tuesday, and wrapped up before noon.
The event involved firing up emergency operation centers for the county public health and sheriff's departments to test coordinated responses to requests for resources, risk communication, expansion of hospital and outpatient care and mass deaths.
Other participants included hospitals throughout the county, Vandenberg Air Force Base, UCSB, neighborhood clinics and nonprofit aid organization, Direct Relief International, which is based in Santa Barbara.
At most locations, this event didn't include any mock victims, but instead tested communication within, and between, the agencies that would deal with a large outbreak of a communicable flu.
?This is a simulation,? said Michele Mickiewicz, county public health department spokeswoman. ?We're sending messages like what would happen in a pandemic emergency and people are responding to them.?
Across the county, the event likely involved hundreds of health-care providers and others who would be involved if a widespread flu outbreak occurred, she said.
Among scenarios, hospitals were being flooded by thousands of patients and the health-care facilities were setting up large triage responses.
Officials believe this is the first time the county agencies and hospitals have simultaneously opened operation centers in a coordinated disaster exercise.
?This is much broader (than other exercises),? she said. ?This is the first one specifically related to a pandemic flu and involves all of our health-care partners.?
At Marian Medical Center in Santa Maria, a spokeswoman estimated dozens of people participated.
?We definitely take exercises like this very seriously,? said Marian spokeswoman Mandy Stanley. ?It's a great opportunity to make sure we're on the same page as other county organizations and if something like this happens we're prepared.?
The entire hospital took part in Tuesday's exercise, which lets the hospital staff deal with, in a practice setting, any issues that arise.
?We acted as though this was really happening,? she said. ?This helps us by letting us identify what we need to do to be prepared. It keeps us in practice in case this does happen. It just keeps it in forefront of our mind.?
At Marian, the scenario called for 35 patients admitted to the facility and some 100 showing up at the emergency room, including both those ill with flu and others deemed ?worry wells,? Stanley said.
To add more realism to its training, Lompoc Valley Medical Center used people to portray patients, including children, according to Jim White, safety officer and chief information hospital.
The drill measured two facets of a hospital's operations, including gauging interaction with other agencies.
?Then there's the internal part where we are dealing with patients, not only real patients because we had to stay open for business, but fictitious patients as well,? White said. ?I think we did pretty doggone good.?
Lompoc hospital officials put employees into roles for the drill to enhance their training and provide an opportunity to gain experience in responding to disasters.
After the drill ended, participants gathered ?to find out what worked and what didn't work,? Mickiewicz said.
For some participants in her agency, the drill provided valuable experience dealing with the county's emergency operations centers.
?They learned how they would fit in an overall response in a pandemic emergency,? she added.
Still, the drill pointed out the challenge of communication - keeping everybody involved in a huge emergency situation updated about the ever-changing conditions, such as one hospital's inability to handle any more patients or where to send needed supplies.
?That's what is always challenging in a disaster,? she said.
Janene Scully can be reached at 739-2214 or janscully@lompocrecord.com.
June 18, 2008