The parking lot filled with tents, fire trucks and ambulances as PCC’s proxy campus, CEC, looked more like a makeshift hospital, than a school. Throughout the day on Tuesday, the Pasadena Public Health Department conducted a drill to assess the city’s ability to respond to a pandemic-flu outbreak.Pasadena’s first actual bioterrorism and public health emergency drill ran from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and was a success, according to the PPHD.
“It ran very smoothly. It was excellent practice for [the Health Department],” said Mary Urtecho-Garcia, a public information officer of the Pasadena Public Health Department. “We chose PCC because [you] are on spring break.”
In the event of a real emergency, PCC will not necessarily be used. For security reasons, the location of an emergency response site cannot be disclosed in advance, she said.
Police, firefighters and public health officials, directed about 300 school children through a maze of queues with surprising efficiency. Each child was given a mock identity and list of symptoms. They were then processed and treated, or quarantined, depending on their symptoms.
“We saw 300 children,” said Urtecho-Garcia. However, they sent each group through two or three times, so it was the equivalent to processing 900 people.
“I hope that when a real disaster hits it will run this smoothly,” added Urtecho-Garcia.
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