Sept. 28, 2018, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLO – On Tuesday, October 2, 2018, Valley View will be joined by safety partners Garfield County Public Health, Garfield County EMA, Glenwood Police Department, Glenwood Fire and the Garfield County Coroner to conduct a full-scale hazmat exercise from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Valley View Hospital. During this exercise, patients and visitors may hear sirens and see structures such as a mock decontamination site.

The objective of the hazmat exercise is to evaluate Valley View’s response to a hazardous materials incident, including emergency operations center coordination, information sharing, medical surge response, and responder health and safety.

Exercise facilitator Josh Anderson of the Safety, Security and Emergency Management department at Valley View, is looking forward to evaluating the response. “Coordination is the most important element of any type of emergency management exercise,” he explains. “We’re looking forward to working with our local agencies to identify what our strengths are, and evaluate opportunities for improvement should we ever experience a real-life event.”

Signs will be placed around the hospital alerting patients and visitors to the exercise. Valley View and participating agencies will also be spreading the word via their social media pages leading up to the exercise.

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About Valley View
Valley View is a private, not-for-profit health system based in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1955 with funds raised by the community, Valley View Hospital has evolved into an 80-bed multi-disciplinary facility providing a broad spectrum of health services with an integrated network of specialty centers and physician practices, including comprehensive cancer care, an interventional cardiology center and neurosurgical and orthopaedic care. Valley View Care Centers are also located in Eagle, Silt and Willits. Local events and outreach efforts include community health fairs, blood drives, a physician-led education series, a kids and teen safety fair, and Rally the Valley, the signature event of the Valley View Foundation. Valley View is designated as a Planetree facility, representing the highest level of achievement in person-centered care. Valley View has been recognized for performance excellence from Healthgrades, J.D. Power & Associates, Truven Health “Top 100 Hospitals”, Survey Vitals and Consumer Reports. PeopleCare. That’s Valley View. www.vvh.org.