Gustavus Adolphus College, along with Nicollet County Public Health and many other local agencies, will conduct an emergency exercise from 9:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 15. The drill is scheduled to allow various emergency response officials to interact and practice for a public health-related event.
The specific goal of this exercise is to test the notification and triage process and introduce essential personnel and volunteers to a mass dispensing site with education about personal protective equipment and specific job duties. Such a site would be set up in an emergency for mass dispensing of drugs, vaccines, or treatment at a medical facility.
Gustavus is involved in this multi-agency drill in two ways. First of all, the college is assisting the county by volunteering the use of its campus and facilities and personnel as the mass dispensing site. Secondly, the college is using the drill as a test of its own emergency operation plan.
As the mass dispensing site, more than 200 volunteers will arrive on campus in vehicles and be directed to different areas on- and off-campus based on the assessment of their pre-assigned, fictitious symptoms by public health officials. All volunteers are instructed to come in motor vehicles and not on foot.
To accommodate the drill, the following areas of campus will be closed to the general public and the campus community until the drill is over:
* Norelius Parking Lot
* Lund Arena Parking Lot
* College View Parking Lot
* Old Football Stadium Parking Lot
* Lund Center for Physical Education and Health building
“This drill, and regular drills like this which are often federally mandated, allow all first responders from differing agencies to work together,” Gustavus Safety and Security Director Ray Thrower said. “The more we practice the more proficient we become. And, we can never practice too much.”
Drill participating agencies include Gustavus; Nicollet County and its Offices of Public Health, Social Services, Sheriff, Emergency Management, Environmental Health, and Administration; the City of St. Peter; St. Peter Police Department; St. Peter Community Hospital; Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital/St. Peter Clinic; Daniels Clinic; American Red Cross; Minnesota Department of Health; Emergency Medical Services; St. Peter Public Schools; North Mankato Police Department; and local press.
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510