Posted Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Huntington County EMA Hosts Second Day of Disaster Response and Readiness Simulation

Emergency management staff participate in a disaster response training simulation on August 30 at the Huntington County Emergency Operations Center in Huntington, Ind.

HUNTINGTON, Ind. – Several Indiana agencies and organizations recently came together to simulate emergency scenarios and enhance their readiness to respond in the event of a public disaster.

Participants in two days of training exercises held by Parkview Hospitals included several members of the District 3 Emergency Management Coalition, including the Indiana Department of Homeland Security; DeKalb County Homeland Security; and emergency management departments for Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties.

DeKalb County Homeland Security hosted the first day of training at the DeKalb County Emergency Operations Center on August 29. Huntington County Emergency Management hosted the second day of training on August 30 at the Huntington County Emergency Operations Center.

Across both days, the agencies completed a Multiple Casualty Incident Functional Exercise simulating a weather incident with property damages and multiple injuries. The participating agencies collaboratively assessed simulated emergency conditions, evaluated likely hospital needs, and discussed best practices for disaster readiness and response.

Each day concluded with the agencies visiting Parkview DeKalb and Parkview Huntington hospitals to observe the family reunification processes they would implement following a public emergency.

Parkview Hospitals held a wrap-up session on August 31 at Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne to evaluate results from the simulation and highlight areas of improvement for hospital staff and participating agencies.

“This exercise was a great opportunity for local emergency management staff to work with local, state, federal and private sector partners,” said Huntington County EMA Director Robert Jeffers. “Emergency management staff continue to attend meetings, training and exercises to enhance our readiness, preparedness and critical response capabilities.”