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Virginia Pandemic Emergency Plan Was Never Exercised

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sherlockj
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by James C. Sherlock

As we suspected, Virginia did not exercise its Pandemic Emergency Plan from the time it was published in 2012 until COVID-19 struck.

I received the following response today to a FOIA request I sent to the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Emergency Management:

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) received your February 13, 2021, email regarding a document request. In that request, you seek:

“Existing VDEM records of Virginia state, regional, and local participation in the National Exercise Program since 2012 at every level of training and exercises that addressed Infectious Disease and Biological Incidents.”

VDEM does not have any documentation that meets the requirements of your request. As a result, pursuant to Va. Code § 2.2-3704.B.3, VDEM notes that no records or data exists in response to your request.

Is “oops” a good enough response for the Governor? It appears so.

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10 responses to “Virginia Pandemic Emergency Plan Was Never Exercised”

  1. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Is “oops” a good enough response for the Governor? It appears so.

    You won’t even get an “oops.”

  2. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    Is “oops” a good enough response for the Governor? It appears so.

    You won’t even get an “oops.”

  3. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    To be fair, he is not the only governor whose agency heads failed to exercise the plan…

    1. sherlockj Avatar
      sherlockj

      Fair point. This is about the bureaucracy. Fixed.

  4. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    To be fair, he is not the only governor whose agency heads failed to exercise the plan…

    1. sherlockj Avatar
      sherlockj

      Fair point. This is about the bureaucracy. Fixed.

  5. Nancy_Naive Avatar
    Nancy_Naive

    The solution is there should have been a fire escape …

  6. Nancy_Naive Avatar
    Nancy_Naive

    The solution is there should have been a fire escape …

  7. Acbar Avatar
    Acbar

    Disgusting.

    “VDEM notes that no records or data exists in response to your request.” A pandemic emergency action plan doesn’t exist if VDEM isn’t aware of it sitting on the shelf. What plan? What emergency? A competent bureaucrat at least would have used those eight years to create an enormous book of regulations with a ponderous administrative oversight superstructure and conducted numerous preparedness exercises and commissioned more studies, all to magnify the agency’s own authority and budget and to deflect criticism. A bureaucracy needs good leadership to accomplish more good than bad. But — to accomplish NOTHING in eight years? This is not about bureaucracy; this is about total agency incompetence.

    Follow up questions for VDEM: What does “VDEM” mean? What if anything has any VDEM employee done lately to merit a State salary?

  8. Acbar Avatar
    Acbar

    Disgusting.

    “VDEM notes that no records or data exists in response to your request.” A pandemic emergency action plan doesn’t exist if VDEM isn’t aware of it sitting on the shelf. What plan? What emergency? A competent bureaucrat at least would have used those eight years to create an enormous book of regulations with a ponderous administrative oversight superstructure and conducted numerous preparedness exercises and commissioned more studies, all to magnify the agency’s own authority and budget and to deflect criticism. A bureaucracy needs good leadership to accomplish more good than bad. But — to accomplish NOTHING in eight years? This is not about bureaucracy; this is about total agency incompetence.

    Follow up questions for VDEM: What does “VDEM” mean? What if anything has any VDEM employee done lately to merit a State salary?

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