Last Updated on April 9, 2015 2:17 pm
Appalachian Regional Healthcare System (ARHS) will conduct an emergency preparedness exercise at Cannon Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, April 14 and at Watauga Medical Center on Wednesday, April 15.
The exercise is intended to improve the local response and collaborative decision-making ability of the hospitals, local fire departments and local emergency services.
The emergency exercise scenarios at both hospitals will be caused by a plausible yet fictitious fire on campus. There will not be an actual fire during either exercise, however, the public may witness smoke rising from Cannon Memorial Hospital on April 14 and from Watauga Medical Center on April 15.
The exercise will take place in unoccupied patient units and will utilize staff not assigned to work that day. Patients at both facilities will not be affected or at risk at any time during the exercise. All services and scheduled procedures will continue as normal. The exercise time will not been made public to preserve the integrity of the event.
The annual emergency preparedness exercises are another way that ARHS and local emergency agencies partner to make life better and safer in the High Country.
