POD Squad

• 64 pages
• For Official Use Only
• November 15, 2009

This Exercise Plan (EXPLAN) is designed to aid exercise planners in the design and implementation of an effective exercise. An EXPLAN also enables exercise participants to understand their roles and responsibilities in exercise planning, execution, and evaluation.

This EXPLAN was produced by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Emergency Preparedness and Response Division (EPRD) with input, advice, and assistance from public health regional staff in all nine of the Colorado All-Hazards Emergency Management Regions.

This EXPLAN follows guidance set forth in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). The information in this document is current as of the publication date, October 22, 2007, and is subject to change as dictated by the CDPHE EPRD Exercise Planning Team.

…

Introduction

The POD Squad Mass Vaccination Exercise is a full-scale exercise (FSE) is designed to bring players from multiple disciplines throughout Colorado together to exercise state, regional and local Strategic
National Stockpile (SNS) and Points of Dispensing (POD) plans, policies and procedures.

Confidentiality

POD Squad is an unclassified exercise. All exercise participants should ensure the proper control of exercise information within their areas of expertise and protect this material in accordance with CDPHE EPRD directives. Public release of exercise materials to third parties is at the discretion of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the CDPHE EPRD Exercise Planning Team, and Regional Exercise Points of Contact only. This EXPLAN may be viewed by all exercise Participants, however, the Controller and Evaluator (C/E) Handbook is a restricted document intended for Controllers and Evaluators only.

Purpose

The purpose of this EXPLAN is to provide Participants (Players, Controllers, Evaluators, and Observers) from appropriate agencies and organizations with information on the 2007 CDPHE POD Squad Full
Scale Exercise including: general information, roles and responsibilities, communication guidelines and other protocols required during exercise play, and clarification on assumptions, artificialities, and/or
simulations. This EXPLAN is based on planning factors and estimates available at the time of preparation and is subject to modification during final exercise planning and preparation. The Player Handbook and
the Controller and Evaluator (CE) Handbook complement this EXPLAN. The Player Handbook provides guidance to players while the CE Handbook provides guidance for conduct of the exercise for Controllers
and Evaluators.

Background

The CDPHE EPRD recognizes its responsibility to help protect the public from, and mitigate the consequences of, natural and man-made public health emergencies. With this responsibility in mind, the CDPHE EPRD has developed response plans, protocols, and procedures to respond to public health incidents and has identified a need to conduct exercises testing these protocols and plans. This will be the first full-scale exercise conducted by the CDPHE EPRD Exercise Planning Team. In addition to several county Regional Transfer Point (RTP) and POD exercises conducted at the regional and local level, three statewide exercises led up to the culmination of POD Squad:

1. 2005 Functional Exercise “Fowl Play”
2. 2006 Advanced Tabletop “Squawk Talk” (October 2006)
3. 2006 Functional Exercise “Squawk Talk” (December 2006).

These exercises tested state and local Department Operations Center (DOC) operations, Receipt, Store and Stage (RSS) warehouse functions, and interoperable communication capabilities of state and local
public health agencies with multiple response partners during a simulated public health emergency. POD Squad will test corrective actions that were identified during these three exercises.

…

Public Affairs

Special attention must be given to the needs of the media, allowing them to get as complete and accurate a story as possible while ensuring their activities do not compromise the exercise realism, safety, or
objectives. CDPHE and participating local public health agencies are responsible for disseminating public information in advance of the POD Squad exercise. CDPHE will coordinate this function by means of the

“What If? Colorado” public information campaign:

What If? Colorado Public Information Campaign

The CDPHE EPRD developed a statewide media campaign titled “What If? Colorado” to inform citizens about pandemic influenza, increase the number of Coloradans who receive seasonal influenza vaccinations, and encourage residents to assemble emergency preparedness kits for their homes. The “What If? Colorado” campaign is scheduled to take place from July-December 2007. One component of the campaign is to inform and encourage the general public to assist in testing Colorado’s mass vaccination plans in the event of a pandemic influenza outbreak. The “What If? Colorado” campaign will be used to communicate exercise dates, locations and objectives to the general public via public service announcements on television, in newspapers, on the radio and online. Members of the public can also find exercise locations in their community using the campaign website, www.WhatIfColorado.com or from the toll free Colorado Help Line, 1-877-462-2911, which provide information in both English and Spanish. CDPHE will be disseminating a press release to Colorado media contacts on Monday, November 12, 2007 to inform the public and the media of the exercise on November 17 and will be sending out a press release at the conclusion of the exercise on Saturday, November 17, 2007.

Share this: