Contact Kim Papich, SRHD Public Information Officer, (509) 324-1539

SPOKANE, Wash. – April 16, 2012 – This Wed., April 18, beginning at 8:00 a.m., health care agencies and emergency responders from across eastern Washington state will conduct an intense, live “disaster” exercise to test their response capabilities. The catalyst for the exercise, called Rumble in the Rubble, is a catastrophic collapse of a hospital, which leaves several injured victims trapped. The exercise will be coordinated from the Spokane Emergency Coordination Center, 1618 N. Rebecca Ave., 99217.

 
Born of extensive training efforts, funds and experience, Rumble in the Rubble comprises two simultaneous, coordinated exercises. Multiple agencies will participate under the banners of the Washington State Region 9 Health Care Coalition (HCC) and the Spokane County Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team. The agencies’ will be tested on their ability to manage the incident, including performing search/rescue and emergency triage, while at the same time assessing the hospital and medical system’s ability to handle a partial evacuation within a hospital along with an influx of patients during a disaster. The HCC exercise will end at noon, with the USAR continuing until 4:00 p.m.
 
During the exercise, the HCC, which works to strengthen emergency preparedness and response planning for all aspects of health care in its 10-county and three-tribe region, will be examining and validating the coordination between regional health care agencies—more than 19 hospitals, community health clinics and many other community agencies will participate. This is a computer-assisted simulation and does not involve any "boots on the ground" (i.e., first responders or emergency officials responding to an incident in real time).
 
Simultaneously, the USAR team will be testing its capability to respond to a collapsed structure. This portion of Rumble in the Rubble will be a full-scale, boots-on-the-ground exercise and involve approximately 110 personnel from multiple agencies “responding” to the structural collapse and managing the associated casualties. Media, please note that this is only an exercise and that there may be increased scanner traffic on certain frequencies. An additional heads-up will be given prior to the exercise beginning.
 
For the last several years, through the use of multiple agency budgets and homeland security grant funds, fire service in Spokane County has been building its USAR capability. Agencies specific to the USAR function of the exercise include Spokane County Incident Management; American Medical Response; and fire agencies from the City of Spokane Fire, Spokane Valley Fire Department, and Fire Districts 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10; and numerous other response agencies.
If you have any questions, please contact either Kim Papich at Spokane Regional Health District (509) 324-1539, or Brian Schaeffer at Spokane City Fire (509) 625-7002.
 
Media- please plan on attending. Those wishing special access to areas for b-roll should call Brian Schaeffer early the morning of April 18. Work-style clothing is acceptable. Both exercises will begin at 0800. HCC exercise ends at 1200, with the USAR continuing until 1600.