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Emergency Preparedness - Planning and Response Drill tests emergency response plans and capabilities
Key strengths identified during this exercise included:
This exercise reinforced in the minds of participants that training on a wide variety of subjects is relevant to response capabilities. Individuals who do not actively participating in preparedness planning also gained insights into the complex models that are in place for their protection. For more information, call 358.5600 or e-mail the Oak Park Department of Public Health *** Spring 2008 The Village will conduct an emergency preparedness exercise at Oak Park and River Forest High School on Fri., May 23. Emergency preparedness personnel will be testing their abilities to dispense large quantities of medication. As a health education component of their physical education classes, students will pose as residents who have come to pick up medication for their families. No real medications will be dispensed and no personal information will be collected. The goal is to test the Village of Oak Park's ability to activate, distribute and dispense preventive medications from the Centers for Disease Control Strategic National Stockpile should a real medical emergency arise. This exercise will be similar to how a real incident would be managed, including controlled processing, orderly lines, and assessment and treatment stations. Students will receive empty medication bottles, which will be collected at the end of the process. The Village has been testing its medical dispensing protocols in smaller-scale exercises for more than three years, helping to fine tune many of the details. However, to really assess capabilities, an exercise on a much larger scale is necessary. With the help of high school students, the abilities of Village staff, emergency response partners and volunteers can test their abilities to dispense medication in an orderly, efficient, effective and safe manner. The medicine-dispensing event is just the public phase of the drill. Behind the scenes, the Village will be testing its incident command structure, which would manage resources in a real disaster, as well as its mutual aid agreements with other organizations and communities. Police, public health officials and equipment from neighboring communities will be involved. Stickney, Skokie and Evanston also will send administrators to observe as part of their own emergency planning efforts. For more information, call 358.5600 or e-mail the Oak Park Department of Public Health Click here to download a question-and-answer fact sheet Click here to download a copy of the letter sent to students' homes Click here to download a copy of the news release announcing the exercise
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June 20, 2008 – A recent multi-day exercise tested the Village’s ability to respond to an identified local threat, assess the local impact, determine the need to request pharmaceutical assets and dispense medications received from the State of Illinois Pharmaceutical Stockpile under the Strategic National Stockpile program to the potential affected target population and close personal contacts.
