Washington County outlines C-POD operations and launches 2026 mass‑care training series

Washington County Emergency Management on Thursday held a Lunch and Learn to explain commodity points of distribution — commonly called C‑PODs — and to launch a 2026 Mass Care training series for volunteers and partner organizations.

Courtney, mass care coordinator for Washington County Emergency Management, told attendees that "C‑POD is short for commodity point of distribution" and described them as "large, temporary operations" designed to deliver bulk, pre‑packaged emergency supplies when conventional supply chains are disrupted. She said the initial goal at these sites is "to give everybody enough for 24 hours."

The presentation laid out practical differences between drive‑through and walk‑through C‑PODs and the factors officials consider in site selection: paved lots with strong ingress and egress, traffic management to handle queues, road and fuel availability, and proximity to where people congregate. Courtney emphasized that drive‑through setups are optimized for high throughput, while walk‑through sites must account for how much a single person can carry on foot and benefit from covered indoor spaces and restroom access.

Citing regional models, the presenter referenced Army Corps and Bay Area guidance that describe three C‑POD sizes. According to those models, the largest configurations can serve "up to 20,000 people a day" while a single‑lane operation might serve roughly 5,000 per day. Large, four‑lane layouts may require about 100,000 square feet solely for loading operations and call for a substantial staffing footprint; the cited staffing guidance estimates about 61 people per day for large day shifts and about 14 overnight for resupply and security.

Courtney outlined essential site roles — an incident lead (and deputies) to maintain span of control, a safety and security lead, a loading team, a traffic team that can track wait times and basic demographics, and a supply team to manage inventory. She also described necessary equipment and site needs: radios, forklifts, pallets, dumpsters for waste, cones and barricades for traffic control, high‑visibility gear, signage, lighting and staff rest/break facilities.

The presenter clarified what C‑PODs are not: they differ from medical points of dispensing (PODs) used for vaccines or countermeasures, and they are not community donation warehouses. "We don't want that to be happening at a C‑POD," she said, urging that donation sorting and local pantry distribution be handled at separate locations to preserve orderly, equitable bulk distribution.

Courtney placed C‑PODs in the broader federal→state→county supply chain and said they are one tool among many, including mobile delivery programs for people who cannot travel to a site, smaller local distribution points run by churches or partner organizations, donation warehouses for sorting, and resource centers that provide individualized referrals and case management.

The session also introduced the county's 2026 training calendar: a C‑POD fundamentals webinar focused on on‑site roles and expectations; a July hands‑on management workshop where attendees will work through site plans and scenarios; and an October functional exercise or drill, location to be determined. A program update will also appear at an upcoming Disaster Services Network quarterly meeting; registration and flyer links are available via QR codes provided during the presentation.

Courtney closed by inviting Washington County residents, organizations and facility operators to participate: "If you are an individual who is interested in becoming a disaster response volunteer, we would love for you to take some of this C‑POD training," she said, and asked owners of large paved facilities to contact the county to discuss possible partner site agreements.

The county left time for questions and encouraged attendees to use the event Q&A or chat and to reach out to Courtney for follow‑up. No formal policy decisions or votes were taken at the session.