County tabletop at nursing home highlights evacuation, utility coordination and low facility participation

County emergency officials reported a recent tabletop exercise at a Columbia County eldercare facility that simulated an earthquake causing natural‑gas odor, power outages, and a broken upper‑floor water pipe that required shutdown by utility crews. The exercise included patient‑accountability procedures, coordination with Central Hudson utility staff and the county EMS ambulance tasking process.

Why it matters: the simulation tested large‑scale evacuations and continuity plans for residents who require medical tracking and transport during mass‑casualty scenarios. County staff described how nursing homes use a New York State system for facility census reporting to relocate residents statewide when local sheltering is insufficient.

Key takeaways: attendees said the exercise exposed valve problems and other infrastructure failure modes that can force full evacuations. County staff said nursing homes are required to run different types of drills annually and that, for this event, only one county nursing facility sent administrative staff to observe. Officials said they plan further walk‑throughs with local fire departments to share schematics and improve response coordination.

Next steps: emergency management staff plan joint planning sessions between nursing homes, fire departments and county EMS; officials encouraged broader participation from long‑term care facilities in future exercises.