Sonoma drills for disaster

Had it been an actual emergency, they wouldn’t have stopped for pizza.
The group lunch yesterday inside the Sonoma Police Department’s Emergency Operations Center came halfway through “Operation Silver Sentinel,” an eight-county Bay Area disaster drill set two days after a pair of massive quakes on the Hayward and Rodgers Creek faults levels buildings and bridges and closes roads, isolating many communities – including Sonoma.
Bob Smylie, deputy director of the Sonoma County Office of Emergency Services (OES), said Tuesday that the scenario’s name derives from “Golden Guardian,” as the annual statewide drill is called.
“What makes this exercise a little different than others is we’re coming in two days afterward,” Smylie said. “At this point, we have responding agencies in the field, people running out of fuel, a whole area of logistical problems. We’re really going from a rescue situation to one of recovery.”
At Sonoma Valley Hospital, the loudspeaker system periodically broadcast this message; “Sonoma Valley Hospital is in disaster mode. This is a drill.” An incident command post in one of the conference rooms was abuzz with activity as hospital staff coped with the latest twist.
“We’re trying to discharge 10 patients in order to admit 10 from local skilled nursing facilities,” de-facto emergency coordinator Jackie Lyons said, explaining that staff was also rationing supplies – including fuel for the generator to keep the lights and other equipment going.
At the police department, city staff – including police and fire personnel – were turning down a request from Bay Area authorities for Sonoma’s OES fire engine. Not only was it needed locally, explained Sonoma Valley Fire and Rescue Authority division chief Mark Freeman, but with all roads blocked south of Schellville there wouldn’t be any access anyway.
City Clerk Gay Rainsbarger said yesterday was the city’s first real disaster drill since 2002. Asked if the exercise had turned up any hidden strengths or weaknesses, Rainsbarger said the biggest concern was “our dependence on electricity, Internet, telephones.”
“It’s going to be a whole new ballgame if all that goes down,” she said.