A small Missoula-based company is helping Granite County Medical Center in Phillipsburg prepare for possible emergency situations. 

Leann Vreeland Consulting is a firm that specializes in disaster preparedness training and education for western Montana healthcare facilities, including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities, with a program she calls Big Sky Guardian. Currently, Vreeland has been working with the Granite County Medical Center in Phillipsburg.

"Part of the preparedness training will include a full-scale exercise called Granite Guardian, that will take place on May 4th," Vreeland said. "Granite Guardian is actually a capstone event of a three-month training package that we put together, which included individual training for the hospital staff, a tabletop exercise for Granite County including all of the area's emergency responders. We'll top it all off with a simulated disaster and we will follow that with a full evaluation of not only the county responders, but the hospital itself."

Vreeland said other small medical facilities are also showing interest in the emergency training.

"Just last week, we spoke with administrators with the Crow Agency, and they are starting to work with us to develop a Big Sky Guardian exercise program for their area," Vreeland said.

Vreeland is a former director of Safety and Emergency Management with St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.

Leann Vreeland

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