{"id":19888,"date":"2024-07-16T14:33:23","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T18:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/?p=19888"},"modified":"2024-07-16T14:33:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T18:33:23","slug":"how-will-you-prepare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/2024\/07\/16\/how-will-you-prepare\/","title":{"rendered":"How will YOU prepare?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Summer is no vacation for RHHD\u2019s Emergency Preparedness and Response (EP & R) team. During the summer, these experts are huddling up with colleagues in agencies across the commonwealth to review shelter plans and check on equipment like\u00a0CHEMPACKs<\/a>. They also run tabletop exercises to rehearse responses to unexpected events.<\/p>\n

EP & R Coordinator Ed Porner explains that RRHD is part of the team of Emergency Support Functions that leap to action in Richmond and Henrico during an emergency. These organizations work together if there\u2019s an immediate nearby event\u2014weather-related or otherwise\u2014that requires evacuation. Ed says\u00a0the recent South Hill fertilizer warehouse fire<\/a>\u00a0is exactly the type of event these teams train to respond to quickly and safely. The organizations also plan for mass dispensing events that would get vaccines or other supplies to residents quickly.<\/p>\n

Organizations responsible for emergency response run a series of drills and exercises throughout the summer to rehearse their planning. CDC\u00a0Public Health Associates Program<\/a>\u00a0Fellow Amanda Tedesco says these drills can be a tabletop exercise, where everyone gathers to talk through a plan; a functional exercise, where experts practice using specific tools and equipment; or a full-scale exercise. Full-scale exercises this year will focus on dispensing vaccines so that the skills responders learned during mass COVID-19 vaccination stay up to date. With the support of RHHD\u2019s capable crew of\u00a0Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteers,<\/a>\u00a0emergency response organizations will administer more than 500 flu immunizations in the coming months, helping to keep our communities healthy and our emergency response skills sharp.<\/p>\n

Emergency response experts in Richmond and Henrico know their work will impact Virginians beyond these two communities. VCU\u2019s Siegel Center is listed as a statewide shelter in the event that coastal Virginians need to evacuate from a hurricane, for example. \u201cSiegel can accommodate anywhere from 800-1000 people if needed, but the logistics and the set up for that, as you can imagine, is tremendously big. So there\u2019s a lot of planning and exercising that has to happen with that,\u201d Ed explains.<\/p>\n

For Ed and Amanda, part of this work involves training the brain to think ahead about the kinds of events we don\u2019t always like to consider. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot going on under the surface that people don\u2019t see until they need to care about it,\u201d Ed says. \u201cThey need to think about what they need to be successful in an emergency. We tend not to have a lot of those conversations until it becomes an impact. But the person who has low mobility who is going to need to get out of the house, those are the kinds of things we all need to prepare for.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of us are important partners in the work Ed and Amanda do, and they encourage us all to take simple steps to get ready for emergencies. \u201cI try to share the urgency,\u201d Amanda explains. \u201cClimate change is affecting vector borne diseases, the strength of hurricanes, extreme heat. We have to be more prepared, and people can see those impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ed and Amanda share some strategies for building your own emergency preparedness plans:<\/p>\n