Westside Glenn County will be participating in the Governor’s 2011 Golden Guardian Statewide Emergency Management & Disaster Exercise. This year’s exercise scenario is catastrophic flood affecting the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. This exercise will provide participants an opportunity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a catastrophic flood.

Golden Guardian is an annual exercise that was implemented in 2004 to increase the readiness of local, regional, and state responders, including private sector and volunteer organizations, to respond effectively to disasters. Golden Guardian is currently the largest statewide exercise program of its in kind in the country.

Glenn County is very vulnerable to flooding and has experienced many floods over the years. This exercise will allow the county and cities’ response personnel to test plans, policies, and procedures for responding to a catastrophic flood scenario.
Glenn County will conduct a number of events related to this exercise during the month of May. Events include a two-day activation of the Glenn County Emergency Operations Center, activation of an American Red Cross shelter, deployment of the Glenn County Medical-Health mobile tent hospital, a medical-health surge capacity exercise, and drilling of emergency communications equipment such as HAM radios and web-based alerting systems.

A multi-disciplinary exercise planning committee was formed in Glenn County in November of 2010. This committee included representatives from Glenn County Planning & Public Works, Glenn County Office of Emergency Services & Sheriff’s Office, Glenn County Health Services Agency, Glenn County Human Resources Agency, City of Willows Fire Department, City of Orland Police Department, Glenn Medical Center, California Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA), Glenn Amateur Radio Emergency Services, and Kanawha Fire. This committee developed Glenn’s portion of the Statewide Exercise and elicited play from numerous agencies within the county. Glenn’s exercise plan has driven events that will affect the State’s overall level of play and response during the exercise.

Glenn County, its incorporated cities, and private and non-governmental agency partners have worked cooperatively in the development of this exercise to better prepare the county for disaster.