YPG considers H1N1 effects

How Yuma Proving Ground would be affected by a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus was the topic of a training exercise Monday at YPG's Emergency Operations Center.

With 2,500 employees, Ron Rodriguez, director of plans, training, mobilization and security, said it was important for YPG to have contingency plans in place in case a large number of employees were out sick with the flu.

"It is important because it helps us be better prepared and more effective in the case of an actual emergency," Rodriguez said. "We are looking at it as if there was an outbreak, what would we do?"

YPG spokesman Chuck Wullenjohn added that while the exercise was intended to prepare for the base to function with numerous sick employees, it was also a learning experience for those who attended.

"Some exercises we go a step further and actually simulate the emergency," Wullenjohn said. "Those are more labor intensive because they are more realistic."

Wullenjohn explained that the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) becomes the installation's nerve center during an emergency, and coordinates the base's response to any catastrophic event that would happen at YPG.

One of the most recent times the EOC was activated, Wullenjohn said, was during a fire along the Colorado River. There were concerns about which way it was spreading and the wind blowing smoke into YPG's housing area.

Of particular concern at the installation during any type of outbreak, Rodriguez said, would be continuing YPG's infrastructure and maintaining its level of production.

"You have to make sure you have enough people who can do those other jobs."

Some of the subjects discussed during Monday's exercise were making sure employees are aware of basic hygiene practices, communicating with the employees and public, and the effect one department's actions will have on another.

Wullenjohn explained that each department on base - such as public works, emergency services and information management - has a supervisor assigned to the EOC.

If an emergency were to occur, that department head would report to the EOC as his department's representative and help coordinate any response.

"It is where the leadership brings the staff together to monitor the situation and support the first responders," Rodriguez said.

The EOC hold several exercises a year, Rodriguez said, and those supervisors then take what they have learned, or what has been developed, and pass it on to their staffs.

"It is also a good way for us to educate our staff through their supervisors," Rodriguez said. "We can make this an all-day event, but if the supervisors don't take the information back to their employees, it loses its value."