Get Ready for the Great Southeast ShakeOut, Oct. 15

According to Elizabeth Goldbaum in “Preparing for an earthquake during a pandemic,” COVID-19 infection rates would rise if a significant earthquake occurred during the pandemic. Researchers say that the number of resulting new cases of COVID would depend on whether authorities prepare now.

Recent studies have predicted that an earthquake event would increase the number of COVID-19 cases in the population affected by that event. These studies have highlighted the importance of preparing to respond to disasters while still maintaining COVID-19 safety precautions.

On October 15, NOVA will participate in The Great Southeast ShakeOut. This is a nationwide earthquake drill designed to encourage earthquake preparedness. Immediately after this drill, NOVA’s Office of Emergency Management and Safety (OEMS) will be conducting a training exercise at the Medical Education Campus that will walk campus leadership through the earthquake response, had it been a real event. This training will also ask MEC leadership to consider how to prioritize the health of the NOVA community during a disaster response.

This training event will be held via zoom to ensure the safety of the participants. The OEMS team will walk campus leadership through the event and create a discussion format where participants will verbalize the actions they would take during the response. This allows for some flexibility in exploring different ideas for how social distancing precautions should be maintained during a disaster response.

While the presented activity will be an earthquake scenario, the COVID-19 considerations discussed during this training could be expanded to apply to other disasters that may affect NOVA campuses. The College administration is working to be fully prepared to expertly respond to a disaster, while keeping the NOVA community safe from current or future pandemic threats.

If you’ll be on campus on Oct. 15, get ready to Drop, Cover, and Hold On with us!