Practice, Practice, Practice...
By: Orange County Communications Department
Everyone has heard the adage, “ practice makes perfect. ” In the world of emergency operations, it may be impossible to practice every scenario, but that does not diminish the value of practice. Orange County regularly conducts emergency operations drills and trainings to create a knowledgeable, cohesive team that is prepared to respond and able to adapt to a variety of real - world emergencies.
To that end, our Public Safety Building played host to both an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) drill and a Public Information Officer (PIO) training course during the week of April 17, 2022. The EOC drill was a “ shakedown ” exercise to help staff prepare their stations for additional drills. Since the Public Safety Building is a new facility, and the EOC has only been activated once since it ’ s opening (during the early January winter storms), this drill was necessary to help refine resource allocation and staff positioning. Regardless of the preliminary nature of the
exercise, emergency staff still went through the motions as if an actual emergency was taking place, which included adapting to changing conditions issued by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM). Later this year, VDEM will host a Virginia Operations Plan Exercise (VOPEX) with the scenario of a radiological incident at North Anna Power Station. This scenario is held biennially and evaluated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure the surrounding localities are prepared to coordinate an effective response in the event of an emergency related to the nuclear power plant. On the following day, the Board of Supervisors ’ Meeting Room pivoted from an Emergency Operations Center to a classroom, but the emergency - preparedness focus remained. Students from across the commonwealth, including Orange County staff, traveled to attend a two (2) day Basic Public Information
Officer training instructed by VDEM. The purpose of this training was to prepare students to serve as PIOs for their locality or agency, and covered topics such as writing press releases, utilizing social media, best practices for interviews, and organizing press conferences. Much of the information covered in the class will be applicable to future EOC activities.
Page 3 | May, 2022
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