On the morning of Nov 8, Liuzhou Food Safety Commission, Liuzhou Food and Drug Administration and Chengzhong district government jointly hosted the “Liuzhou Food Safety Incidents (Level Four) Emergency Drill” for the integrated dispatch of all the emergency relief and disposal forces in Liuzhou and responce to a simulated food safety accident in an elementary school.

The simulated accident was set in Liuzhou Jingxing Elementary School. Chengzhong district government took a leading position in the emergency drill. Schools, the local health department, public security department and other relevant departments also participated in the drill, which was divided into six sections, such as the occurrence and report of an accident and the advanced disposal and response to the accident.

The accident was set to occur at 2:00 pm on May 20, 2014. A total of 25 students felt unwell in an elementary school with symptoms of nausea, vomit, stomachache and so on. Two of them were critically ill patients. The elementary school then launched the food safety contingency plan, reported the accident to the local district food safety office, district education bureau and sanitary bureau. The district food safety office and other relevant departments quickly sent professionals to the elementary school and took advanced disposal actions.

However, with the steadily worsening situation, the number of sick students increased to 32. The district food safety office reported the situation to the leaders of the district government and launched the level four food safety contingency plan and promptly established a 5•20 emergency command center. The command center then sent out aid workers to the scene and held a news conference immediately after.

The drill lasted for over 90 minutes. “By 10:00 am on May 25, 68 students got sick and 58 of them had been cured. Ten of them were still under treatment at the hospital.” The relevant governmental departments had handled the emergency situation very well.

The drill is the first one for a major food safety accident in Liuzhou. It invited many county departments to inspect and give suggestions. Liuzhou will also strive to promote its emergency relief and disposal capacity to protect the health and security of Liuzhou’s people.

Source: China Daily