Fargo Cass Public Health will partner with local law enforcement, first responders, and additional area agencies to conduct a Point of Dispensing Training Exercise (POD) on Friday, April 27th, beginning at 8 a.m. The exercise will take place at Fargo North High School. Because April 27 is a school vacation day, students will not be present.
The purpose of the exercise is to test the ability of public health and law enforcement staff to respond to and set up a POD, which would be used to distribute medication to residents in the event of a public health emergency. This type of training is required every five years, as part of a grant through the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
Ruth Roman, Director of Fargo Cass Public Health, said, “We appreciate the partnership and cooperation of all agencies involved in this training exercise and look forward to learning how we can continue to improve our response efforts.”
Due to the nature of the training exercise, there will be a strong law enforcement presence in and around the school. However, residents are reminded this is only a training drill.
Partnering agencies include the North Dakota Department of Health Division of Emergency Preparedness & Response, Fargo Public Schools, Fargo Police Department, Cass County Sheriff’s Office, North Dakota Highway Patrol, Fargo Fire Department, FM Ambulance and Cass Fargo Emergency Management.
Editor’s note: Media are invited to enter the school through door # 8 on the north side of the building beginning at 9:45 a.m. Media will be escorted to a room inside the school for a news conference, which will take place at 10 a.m. Immediately following the news conference media will be escorted to the gymnasium, where there will be opportunities to gather photos and video of training participants going through the POD process. Interview opportunities will also be available.