Multiple agencies to stage school bus emergency exercise

Jean-Michael Dapena-Torres, emergency preparedness coordinator for Confluence Health.

COURTESY OF CONFLUENCE HEALTH

Dr. Kory Kalahar, superintendent for the Wenatchee School District.

COURTESY OF CONFLUENCE HEALTH

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WENATCHEE — Multiple agencies across North Central Washington will conduct a large-scale emergency response exercise on November 15 involving a simulated school bus crash with pediatric casualties.

The training exercise, dubbed "Operation Tiny Guardians," will bring together healthcare workers, educators, law enforcement, and first responders to test emergency protocols and inter-agency coordination near Columbia Elementary School in Wenatchee.

Confluence Health will lead the medical response, activating their Hospital Incident Command System and Disaster Medical Coordination Center to manage the simulated mass casualty incident. The exercise will include volunteers portraying injured patients, complete with moulage makeup effects to simulate injuries.

"Full-scale exercises like this offer important opportunities for local law enforcement, first responders, educators, and medical staff to come together and use their emergency plans in something resembling a real incident," said Jean-Michael Dapena-Torres, emergency preparedness coordinator for Confluence Health and exercise director for the event. "By doing this, we can learn about areas that are working as intended and those where we need to make improvements. In addition, this importantly allows us to all come together as a multi-organization team to ensure we can best protect and serve our community."

"It's important that everyone understands this is just a simulation to help us to improve. We want to be sure that our exercise doesn't alarm anyone in the area, but, at the same time, the more realism we can bring to the event, the better we can prepare and address areas of needed improvement," continued Dapena-Torres.

The drill will specifically test pediatric mass casualty response capabilities. Confluence Health will deploy its Emergency Response Team and work with the Chelan-Douglas Health District Reserve Medical Corps to establish a pediatric safe zone for unaccompanied minors and manage family reunification procedures.

"The safety of our students and faculty is our top priority, and this training exercise is an essential step in ensuring that we are prepared for any emergency," said Dr. Kory Kalahar, superintendent for the Wenatchee School District, which is providing both the school bus and facility for the fictional accident scene. "We are grateful for the collaboration with our first responders and the unique opportunity to use Columbia Elementary for this important exercise."

Participating agencies include Confluence Health, Wenatchee School District, Wenatchee Valley Fire Department, Washington State Patrol, Chelan-Douglas Health District, Link Transit, RiverCom, Lifeline, Life Flight, and Airlift NW.

Officials advised that the public may notice increased emergency vehicle activity and individuals with simulated injuries near Columbia Elementary School during the November 15 exercise.

Confluence Health, which is coordinating the exercise, serves the largest geographic region of any healthcare system in Washington State, covering more than 12,000 square miles across Okanogan, Grant, Douglas, and Chelan counties.