The City of Puyallup’s Emergency Management division provides information and training to help keep everyone in our community safe and informed in the event of emergency incidents.
On November 7th, the City along with Pierce County will jointly conduct a full-scale exercise to test and improve Puyallup’s ability to shelter displaced residents during a large emergency event. The exercise will simulate an activation of the emergency operations center along with a shelter location.
A full-scale exercise involves multiple jurisdictions, agencies and disciplines. Participants will include public safety and other personnel, volunteers, and persons role-playing characters with various needs.
For this exercise, the simulated emergency will be a Puyallup River flood event which necessitates evacuations. Puyallup Nazarene Church will serve as the activated shelter. Within the context of the simulation, Pierce County’s Functional Assessment Service Team (FAST) will interview persons seeking shelter, determine unmet needs and attempt to secure appropriate resources.
All exercise activities will be documented and subsequently evaluated to determine if any procedures warrant modification. The purpose of the simulation is to determine and address issues of concern ahead of a real incident.
“Exercises are crucial to test our plans, policies and procedures,” said Kirstin Hofmann, Puyallup’s Emergency Manager. “We have to be prepared to in the event of an emergency and by training and exercising we can see where we are ready to respond and discover areas where we need to improve. Ultimately, our goal is to increase our ability to provide the necessary services to Puyallup residents during emergencies or disasters.“
For more information on disaster preparedness and related resources, see the City's website.