PHD to test emergency ability
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April 22, 2013 |
From April 29 to May 1, Panhandle Health
District (PHD) will test its plans and ability
to order and dispense medication in a crisis to
the people living in the five northern counties.
The statewide exercise will present the state’s
seven health districts and the Idaho Department
of Health and Welfare with a fictitious
emergency scenario, such as an anthrax attack.
PHD and other public health providers will
assess the situation, simulate an order of
medication from the federal Strategic National
Stockpile, open a mass medication center at the
Kootenai County Fairgrounds and dispense candy
medication to about 300 community volunteers.
In a real emergency, PHD will operate mass
medication centers in all five counties.
For this exercise, PHD will operate a fraction
of one center in Coeur d’Alene.
About 50 people from PHD will practice triage,
registration, checking forms, moving people
through the center, working with people with
disabilities and limited language skills,
medical evaluation, dispensing medication—M&Ms
and Sweet Tarts—and managing the medication
center.
Community volunteers are still needed to act as
patients at the fairgrounds from 11:45 a.m. to 2
p.m. on May 1. Volunteers will receive a free
lunch.
To volunteer, call (208) 415-5180.
PHD will operate from a mobile command
center—Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) at the
fairgrounds on May 1. Other agencies
participating in the exercise are the Coeur
d’Alene Interagency Fire Cache, North Idaho
Medical Reserve Corp, Kootenai County Sheriff’s
Office and Office of Emergency Management, Idaho
State Police, Coeur d’Alene Police Department,
Kootenai Fire and Rescue, Kootenai EMS, Hauser
Lake Fire, Spokane Regional Health District,
Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security and more. |
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