A large emergency preparedness drill is set for Wilkes County on Saturday morning, March 4, involving county health, law enforcement, medical, media, and state health agencies.

The emergency exercise will simulate a scenario in which anthrax has been discovered in the Athens post office, and may have spread to the mail in Wilkes County. This imaginary emergency will test the ability of local agencies including the Wilkes County Health Department, the county Emergency Management Agency, Wills Memorial Hospital, Wilkes Emergency Medical Service, and others, to respond to the threat.

Volunteers will play the part of patients during the exercise, which will take place at WashingtonWilkes Comprehensive High School.

A training coordinator with the East Central Health District in Augusta, which is running the drill, says that exercising operational procedures is essential for successful operation in real-world situations. “Our public health exercises are conducted to validate plans and functional area proficiencies/competencies in support of a disaster that impacts the general public,” stated the ECHD Emergency Training Coordinator, Gary Zgutowicz, in a press release. The training is designed to leave participants with a clear understanding of what to do in specific situations.

“Effective approaches to planning, training, and exercises have been developed to mitigate the effects of natural and man-made disasters. State and local personnel must prepare to prevent and respond to new threats to public safety from terrorism involving the use of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosive weapons,” the release said. The exercise has already had one rehearsal recently, a tabletop exercise, in which participants from each of the agencies concerned, plus the media, met at the Wilkes County Health Department and went through step-by-step action messages that an actual emergency might generate. Participants discussed the actions that their agencies would take in the event of an actual emergency.

Saturday’s exercise will be handson training that simulates the treatment of large numbers of citizens in a controlled environment, using the actual agencies and personnel who would be involved in a real emergency in Wilkes County.

COURTESY OF THE NEWS REPORTER