Cochise County representatives recently joined several other local, state and federal agencies during a public health emergency response exercise with a mock scenario of a measles outbreak.

Over 30 representatives from agencies such as the Cochise County Emergency Response, public health and board of supervisors and public information offices met in Naco for what the city calls a table top exercise designed to measure agency preparedness.

“It helps us any time we can work with our partner agencies,” Emergency Preparedness Coordinator with the Cochise County Office of Public Health Greg McQuaide said in a press release. “An exercise like this allows us to develop relationships so we all know who to call, when to call them, and the expected actions. It fosters a community type of response, rather than just acting as a single agency.”

The exercise involved the agencies working together to communicate with each other and local residents if an emergency incident should occur. According to the city, the event resulted in an overwhelming show of the agencies’ ability to cooperate with each other. 

“It was also good to see how willing these federal agencies are to work with the county and use our expertise,” McQuaide said in a statement.