Local emergency committee plans multi-agency preparedness exercises; Everbridge communications flagged for future use

McPherson’s Local Emergency Planning Committee told the school board it will stage multi-agency preparedness exercises this summer to test responses to violent incidents, natural disasters and hazardous material releases.

Committee co-chairs described weather events and active-shooter scenarios as the community’s highest-consequence, highest-probability emergencies and said large-scale drills help reveal gaps in plans, locking mechanisms, communications and interagency coordination.

Board members were told the summer event will be a “tabletop” and full-scale multi-organization staging for schools, hospitals, long-term-care facilities, law enforcement, EMS and industry partners. LEPC co-chair Lamont Rothrock said the purpose is to identify “where are the holes” so leaders can fix them before a real event. He cited a past county tabletop where a rapid, practiced community response impressed EPA and Union Pacific during an actual derailment incident.

LEPC speakers said the Everbridge mass-notification product is in the county’s procurement discussions but is not planned to be used in this summer’s exercise because not enough local agencies are yet on the platform. Instead, the exercise will test internal communications among participating organizations; future years could include geo-fenced mass notifications to cell phones if uptake grows.

Board members and presenters discussed liability concerns and legal advice that boards should document preparedness efforts. Presenters emphasized that exercising plans — from desktop reviews to full-scale staging — helps find technical and procedural failures such as doors that failed to lock during lockdown drills.

The board thanked LEPC representatives and said it expects a follow-up report after the summer exercises summarizing lessons learned and recommended fixes.

LEPC speakers asked the board to consider future funding collaboration for a single, countywide notification system that could reduce duplicate expenses across jurisdictions; no purchase was requested or approved at the meeting.

The board was advised that the exercise will include internal communications among participants, and that a countywide Everbridge trial or public messaging would be a later step when more agencies are onboarded.