County entities conduct emergency evacuation drill
Share
Tweet
-EW photo by Naomi Scoggin
The majority of the residents were loaded onto a CTA van by wheelchair and then walked to their seats. Pictured here is Carlene Pawlik, after the ride, being assisted by CTA Administrator Jeff Ruchert.
POMEROY–The Garfield County Hospital District, in cooperation with Garfield County E911, Sheriff's Office, Fire District No. 1, Transportation Authority, and the City of Pomeroy, conducted an emergency evacuation drill on October 19.
Nine participating residents of Garfield County Memorial Hospital and one mannequin were loaded onto a CTA van and two GCFD ambulances, driven to the Pomeroy High School and returned to the Hospital, where they were unloaded, in a simulation of an emergency evacuation of the Hospital in response to a heating system failure. The van was escorted by Garfield County Sheriff Drew Hyer and Deputy Adam Dispenza, and all areas of the drill remained in communication through the GCFD radio channel. The mannequin was used to keep one ambulance free to respond to any emergency call during the drill and was the only casualty, one hand coming loose from its arm during transport.
Participating residents were Norma VanDorn, Joan Hays, Carlene Pawlik, Richard Herres, Woodie Woodsum, Leah Hagen, James Delp, Ron Parrish and Phil Crawford.
-EW photo by Naomi Scoggin
Manny the mannequin, loaded by GCFD volunteers Kyson and Braedon Fruh, permitted Medic 20 to be available to respond to emergency calls while still participating in the drill
The drill was observed by Pete Hartmann, the Eastern Washington Emergency Management Field Representative of the Washington Military Department; Garfield County Emergency Management Director Tina Meier; and Garfield County Commissioner Jim Nelson. Meier commended the Hospital staff's quick establishment of an incident command center and roles. "That's important," Meier said. Hartmann rated the drill a "95 out of 100 success", applauding the smoothness and precision of the loading and unloading of residents while acknowledging the inter-entity communication glitch that resulted in one ambulance taking a different route than had been planned for the drill.
Possibilities to build on the experience were discussed in a wrap-up meeting after the drill had concluded, which included separate drills for the county entities and higher intensity drills at the Hospital, which do not include resident participation at this time.
