The City of Westfield has conducted two of three exercises with Westfield State College to test our response to a major emergency at the College.  The Scenario is that there is an explosion in the Laboratory of one of the buildings, and there are several victims that must be treated for injuries.   A tabletop exercise was held in October 2009 with attendance from the Westfield Police, Westfield Fire, Westfield Emergency Management, Massachusetts State Police, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Medical Reserve Corps, and Noble Hospital.

The Westfield Public Schools had several individuals attend as observers so they could understand how they may operate and the challenges we may face if a similar incident were to occur at a school.  Westfield State College established a Command Center to address issues that the college must respond to.   In addition, they provided a representative to be in the Incident Command Center, and the exercise enabled individuals to test their skills in responding and working with others in an Incident Command Structure.

During the functional exercise, the focus was on the flow of information between the college and the Incident Command Table and between the Incident Command Center and the Emergency Personnel who would be on site.   After each exercise, a discussion was held on lessons learned and this information is used to build the After Action Report (AAR) and will be the guide to use to develop the plans for the full scale exercise scheduled for May 2010. 

The City Council approved by unanimous vote the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Hazardous Mitigation Plan on February 4th.  The council was presented with the PVPC Hazardous Mitigation Plan by the License and Ordinance Committee.

Director Jim Wiggs had met with the L&O Committee earlier in the week and presented the plan to them as requested.   The L&O decided to bring the plan to the council so it could be approved and then be signed by the Mayor.  Approval of the Plan allows the City to continue to be eligible for FEMA Grants, and it outlines a plan for the City to mitigate against some of the risks it faces.  Director Wiggs informed the Council that there were no surprises in the document and that it is a living document and a guideline for reducing risks that hazards present to the City.

During the next few months, Director Wiggs will be working closely with several departments to close out some of the items in the plan and help make the City more prepared for the hazards that the City faces.

The Westfield Public Health Department operated an H1N1 inoculation clinic on November 5th at Westfield South Middle School.  The Health Department with the assistance of the Medical Reserve Corps dispensed 700 doses in a three hour period to the target group of elementary age children.

Westfield Emergency Management assisted on the command staff, with event communications, parking and crowd control.

Other agencies involved were Westfield Police, Fire, Public School departments as well as the Red Cross.

The Health Department will be holding a second clinic at Westfield North Middle School on November 16th from 4-6pm for the same age group.