County agencies, Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District, El Centro Regional Medical Center and response partners prepare emergency exercise.

Local emergency response agencies and health care facilities will be establishing command areas at Pioneers Hospital in Brawley as part of the exercise activities on April 26^th.

EL CENTRO, CA- Local emergency response and law enforcement agencies, community clinics and the area’s two hospitals will be participating in a Disaster Exercise Wednesday April 26^th at various locations throughout Imperial County.  The functional exercise, based on a multi-site coordinated emergency, will help the community be better prepared for emergencies and incidents of all types and sizes. This is an exercise and not an actual event.  The public may see law enforcement presence and first responders at Pioneers Hospital from 10am to 12pm in Brawley.   

“This Exercise is an excellent opportunity for local first responders to collaborate and test our emergency response plans,” stated David Creiglow, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency Manager, Imperial County Public Health Department. “We have purposely designed this exercise as a scenario to stress our system and see where there may be areas for improvement.  These types of exercises benefit our community since they allow local agencies to practice their emergency response plans to be able to respond effectively in the event of an actual event.”  

The planned exercise will include participants from multiple agencies including Brawley Fire and Police Departments, Imperial County Fire, Imperial County EMS Agency, Imperial County Behavioral Health Services, Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District, innercare, Valley Urgent Care, City of Brawley, American Medical Response, El Centro Regional Medical Center, and other partner agencies. 

About the Exercise:

This exercise was developed by a local planning committee to encourage community emergency management stakeholders to exercise their response to and recovery from unusual incidents and events that may challenge their facilities and personnel, including natural disasters, pandemics, and other incidents.  

Media representatives interested in covering the exercise are encouraged to contact Andrea Bowers at andreabowers@co.imperial.ca.us by 5pm Tuesday April 25^th to make the necessary arrangements and receive additional instructions.