Public health emergencies can be fast-moving and unpredictable. They can affect many people instantly and stress healthcare response organizations quickly. Strong partnerships, consistent planning, and frequent testing through exercises are essential for Chester County to maintain preparedness for a public health emergency.
Chester County recently participated in Frankenthrax: A Regional Public Health Full-Scale Exercise, with over 28 partner agencies from the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. This exercise was designed to test the County’s ability to coordinate information sharing, emergency public information and warning, medication dispensing, and emergency operations throughout the region.
The Chester County Health Department and the County’s Department of Emergency Services showed strong response capabilities in this public health emergency scenario. Activities included a County Health and Emergency Operations Center activation, a Point of Dispensing exercise where “medication” was handed out, and extensive collaboration and coordination with response partners throughout this five-day exercise.
In partnership with other jurisdictions in the Southeastern Pennsylvania region and neighboring states and counties, Chester County conducts a full-scale exercise once every five years. This exercise tests medication dispensing capabilities in response to a public health emergency, for example, a widespread anthrax release. Chester County conducted Points of Dispensing to dispense medications efficiently and accurately to the public in order to test and improve preparedness.
In the case of a widespread public health emergency, a system is in place for PODs to be opened throughout the County for all residents and visitors to receive medication within a short period of time. In a POD, a person completes a screening form, reviews the screening form with POD staff, and receives the appropriate medication. For last month’s Frankenthrax exercise, County staff and volunteers worked to distribute “medications” to people walking through PODs at the Government Services Center and the Justice Center in West Chester. Participants learned how to acquire medications for themselves and their family members in case of a public health emergency. Over 300 “medications” were dispensed among these two PODs in two hours.
The collaboration that occurred in this year’s full-scale exercise has strengthened the region’s ability to respond and mitigate a widespread health emergency. Staff in the Chester County Health Department exceeded the expectations of the challenge with energy and passion to ensure the safety and wellness of the residents of Chester County. The County and all of its public health preparedness stakeholders demonstrated a strong capability to address public health emergencies and ensure the health and safety of residents and visitors.
Staff in both the Chester County Health Department and the Department of Emergency Services demonstrated dedication to ensuring that the public’s health is protected in any emergency.
These exercises allow the two departments to continue to work and practice together to maintain optimal readiness. We thank our fellow County departments, public health, healthcare, and response partners for their commitment to public health emergency planning and for helping us to cultivate such a capable response team.
The lessons learned from this exercise will inform future planning efforts and improvements in order to ensure Chester County’s continued readiness to conduct a public health emergency response.
Jeanne Casner, Director, Chester County Health Department and
Michael Murphy, Director, Chester County Department of Emergency Services
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...
Comments