Zombie drill set for October: Public Health tests emergency response
Children may be asked whether they have been scratched, licked or bitten by a zombie when Weston County Public Health joins two neighboring counties for an emergency exercise next month.
Weston, Crook and Niobrara county public health departments will hold Operation Outbreak, a zombie-themed Point of Dispensing exercise, from 4-6 p.m. Oct. 22 in the Crook County Courthouse basement, in Sundance, according to a press release submitted to the News Letter Journal. A Point of Dispensing, or POD, is a temporary site used to provide medication, vaccines or other supplies to many people during a public health emergency. The public’s participation in the exercise gives responders a chance to test how their plans work with real people moving through the system before they ever have to use it during an actual emergency.
No medication or vaccines will be given during Operation Outbreak. Instead, children, adults and families will move through mock stations that resemble parts of a real POD, and candy will be distributed.
Amanda McDade, with Weston County Public Health, told the NLJ that the Weston County Fairgrounds would probably be used if the county needed to establish a POD. The site could be activated within about an hour because Public Health has a state-supported calling system that can notify people involved in the response where to report and what is happening, McDade said.
Who would need to use a POD, and how many people officials would need to serve, would depend on the emergency, according to McDade.
For example, an incident such as an anthrax exposure might require officials to serve people in or near the affected area rather than the entire county, McDade said. That uncertainty is one reason Public Health practices regularly, according to McDade.
In recent years, Public Health has used flu clinics as opportunities to practice POD operations. In this year’s exercise, McDade said officials especially want to see how smoothly people move through the fictional zombie emergency setting and how quickly responders can assemble and begin operating.
The exercise will also test cooperation among agencies, according to McDade.
“We rely heavily on our community partners, being as we are a small county and a small public health,” she said. “We would need their
assistance.”
The zombie theme is aimed especially at children. Participants may be asked whether they have encountered zombie slime, whether they feel like their normal selves and whether they have any food allergies. The allergy question mirrors the type of health screening that could take place before supplies are distributed during an actual POD.
Emergency personnel are also expected to show children how they would wrap a pretend zombie bite, and an ambulance will be available for children to see while responders explain what they do.
McDade said she hopes the event helps children become more familiar with Public Health and emergency medical services.
“We’re here to help and prevent any sickness from getting any worse,” she said. “There’s nothing scary about it.”
Operation Outbreak is open to people of all ages, and participants do not have to live in one of the three participating counties. Costumes are welcome, and the event will include candy, games and activities, according to the release.
“We’re going to decorate it like a zombie theme and I think we’re going to dress up,” McDade said. “It should be fun.”
Although this year’s exercise will take place in Crook County, McDade said organizers hope to bring it to Weston County next year and possibly Niobrara County the following year.