KDHE holds emergency preparedness exercise in Garden City

Garden City, KS(westernkansasnews.com) The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Division of Emergency Management just completed the first two of seven tabletop exercises last week in Garden City and Oakley. This is an effort to increase the state’s preparedness for a mass fatality incident. Approximately 300 people participated in the simulated tragedy to evaluate their readiness to respond.
Exercise topics included:

Roles of community partners, including coroners, law enforcement, hospitals, EMS, public health, behavioral health, funeral directors and others
Local plans or needs for Family Assistance Centers
Capacities and needs for providing behavioral health, funeral and other services for families of victims

“Planning and practicing for responding to and recovering from a mass fatality incident is very challenging,” said Michael McNulty, Deputy Preparedness Director at KDHE. “We engage a number of organizations that are not traditionally thought of as responders. Including them and bringing them to the table is important so we all know what we can do should a tragedy occur.”
Future exercises will be held:
· Wichita, February 13
· Salina, February 15
· Parsons, March 6
· Topeka, March 8
· Leavenworth, March 20