Test for Smyrna, Emory-Adventist Emergency Operation Center

The hospital and city signed an agreement in the fall of 2013 to develop the JEOC which will serve as a single point of command for disaster and emergency management for the city and for the hospital.

During the March 21 drill, this unified command center, located on the hospital campus, will be manned by EAH Incident Command, City of Smyrna Fire and Police departments, Cobb-Douglas Public Health, Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) and Metro Ambulance.

The hospital will remain open throughout the drill and patient care will go on uninterrupted. There will be fire, police, and other emergency responders and vehicles on the hospital campus throughout the day.

“The City of Smyrna and Emory-Adventist Hospital both strive for the highest level of citizen care and attention," Bob Crowe, MSN, RN, assistant vice president of EAH, said in a new release. "This is especially evident in our approach to emergencies and disasters that impact our citizens, patients, employees, and staff. We are proud to be one of only two cities in the state of Georgia that has its own Emergency Management Agency.”

The exercise is fully sanctioned and follows the protocols for exercises as developed by the Department of Homeland Security through Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It will be evaluated and critiqued by FEMA and GEMA. City businesses and community members are encouraged to participate by testing their own disaster plans when the weather alert siren is sounded on March 21.

Emory-Adventist Hospital at Smyrna is an 88-bed, not-for-profit facility operated by Adventist Health System (AHS) as a joint venture with Emory Healthcare.