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Source: http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/507483.html?nav=5002
Local officials participate in mock pandemic event
By Charley Townsley, CENTRAL IOWA PRESS
POSTED: June 20, 2008
Local health, government and emergency response officials spent much of Wednesday practicing for how they would respond in the event of an actual verified pandemic outbreak.
According to Tama County Public Health and Home Care Director Linda Rosenberger, Wednesday?s drill was designed to test the plan her office has as to how to respond to a threatening health situation. She and Tama County Emergency Coordinator Roxanne Warnell planned the drill, which included many area people.
?You can have all the written plans you want, but there is nothing like actually testing them in a situation as close to a real event as you can get,? said Rosenberger.
The scenario was a verified case of H5N1 Influenza, commonly known as the Avian or Bird Flu, involving the death of a local woman.
According to National Incident Management System, this scenario was a public health situation and therefore, Tama County Public Health was in charge of the Incident Command Center.
They were set up for a mass vaccination exercise at the South Tama County High School. The high school became the Point of Distribution for the mass vaccination effort.
An Emergency Operations Center was established at the Tama County Courthouse. People involved in the EOS in an actual situation would be, appointed public officials, the Tama County Board of Supervisors, city mayor and representatives, county officials, public health officials, emergency response officials and the Red Cross. Their duty is how to best protect the citizens of Tama county in a mass emergency situation.
A Public Information Officer is named to distribute approved information to the public through media sources. In this case it was Dr. Dennis Mallory, as it might be in an actual situation. All information released through the PIO must be approved first by the EOS.
There were a variety of scenarios planned into the drill to simulate what might be actual situations that could occur in the event of and actual health scare.
?We learned a lot of detail from the day that will help us to plan better for an actual event,? Rosenberger said.
There is a county-wide emergency response committee which meets every other month to discuss and plan emergency situations.
?The day was a lot of work, but well worth the effort,? Rosenberger said. ?We received good input from all of the agencies involved in the day. In our debriefing time afterwards, there were many valuable ideas exchanged. Planning for situations like this is an ongoing job.?
Local officials participate in mock pandemic event
By Charley Townsley, CENTRAL IOWA PRESS
POSTED: June 20, 2008
Local health, government and emergency response officials spent much of Wednesday practicing for how they would respond in the event of an actual verified pandemic outbreak.
According to Tama County Public Health and Home Care Director Linda Rosenberger, Wednesday?s drill was designed to test the plan her office has as to how to respond to a threatening health situation. She and Tama County Emergency Coordinator Roxanne Warnell planned the drill, which included many area people.
?You can have all the written plans you want, but there is nothing like actually testing them in a situation as close to a real event as you can get,? said Rosenberger.
The scenario was a verified case of H5N1 Influenza, commonly known as the Avian or Bird Flu, involving the death of a local woman.
According to National Incident Management System, this scenario was a public health situation and therefore, Tama County Public Health was in charge of the Incident Command Center.
They were set up for a mass vaccination exercise at the South Tama County High School. The high school became the Point of Distribution for the mass vaccination effort.
An Emergency Operations Center was established at the Tama County Courthouse. People involved in the EOS in an actual situation would be, appointed public officials, the Tama County Board of Supervisors, city mayor and representatives, county officials, public health officials, emergency response officials and the Red Cross. Their duty is how to best protect the citizens of Tama county in a mass emergency situation.
A Public Information Officer is named to distribute approved information to the public through media sources. In this case it was Dr. Dennis Mallory, as it might be in an actual situation. All information released through the PIO must be approved first by the EOS.
There were a variety of scenarios planned into the drill to simulate what might be actual situations that could occur in the event of and actual health scare.
?We learned a lot of detail from the day that will help us to plan better for an actual event,? Rosenberger said.
There is a county-wide emergency response committee which meets every other month to discuss and plan emergency situations.
?The day was a lot of work, but well worth the effort,? Rosenberger said. ?We received good input from all of the agencies involved in the day. In our debriefing time afterwards, there were many valuable ideas exchanged. Planning for situations like this is an ongoing job.?