North Olympic Peninsula and Kitsap County emergency agencies will test their skills this week during homeland security exercises Tuesday and Wednesday.
The drill includes a “tabletop”‘ exercise built around the scenario that people attending a public event become ill with an unknown condition for five days afterward.
Public health staffs will work throughout the tabletop exercise to discover the agent causing the illness, said Jamye Wisecup, program coordinator for Clallam County Emergency Management.
The exercise will end with public health officials requesting medications from the state and the opening of emergency operations centers throughout the region.
Emergency operations center exercises will be conducted in Clallam, Jefferson and Kitsap counties on Wednesday, and a full-scale exercise will develop in Kitsap County. Volunteer patients will arrive at some area hospitals seeking treatment for their illness.
In Kitsap County, public health will open a clinic to dispense scenario medication — in the form of candy M&Ms — to volunteers seeking to prevent illness.
Law enforcement will investigate the alleged crime while fire/emergency medical services will transport volunteers to needed medical care.
Participants in the exercise include Clallam County Health and Human Services, Olympic Medical Center, Forks Community Hospital, Clallam County Emergency Management Department, Jefferson Health Services, Healthcare and Emergency Management Division.