WILKES-BARRE, Pa. –
Soldiers and Airmen from the Pennsylvania National Guard conducted training with officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency on April 19, 2020, in preparation for a COVID-19 testing site at the Mohegan Sun Arena parking lot.
“I just want everyone at home and the community to know that the National Guard is out here, we are on state active duty, and that we are here to facilitate a smoothly running facility as possible,” said 1st Lt. Owen Dietrich, officer in charge of the Pa. National Guard forces supporting the COVID-19 testing site. “And we’re doing everything that we can -- us as the state, and the country – to get through this as smoothly as possible.”
Those taking part in the training were aided by members of the Pa. National Guard’s 3rd Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Task Force, which supported a COVID-19 testing site in Montgomery County in March.
The combined forces practiced over several days to make sure that everyone was prepared for the site’s opening to first responders on Monday April 20 and to the public on April 21, 2020.
Videos available for download on DVIDS:
Department of Health Release on the testing site: https://pacast.com/m?p=17965