In 2004, William H. Young, president of the National Association of Letter Carrier, entered into an agreement with  the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Postal Service for utilization of volunteer letter carriers to deliver antibiotics to homes in the event of a catastrophic bioterrorist event. On Saturday, November 11, postal carriers in King County, Washington, including Seattle, will play a critical role in testing local plans to distribute medications directly to people’s homes in an emergency.

More info from NALC:

The United States Postal Service (USPS) and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will participate in a drill in which postal carriers will deliver a cardboard container (simulating a bottle of pills) and emergency information cards to approximately 38,000 households in northeast Seattle.

The drill is part of the Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI), a national program focused on increasing the capacity of major metropolitan centers to rapidly deliver medications or vaccine to keep people from getting sick during wide-scale biological emergencies.

Drill details

During the drill, 41 delivery teams will be dispatched in the 98125 and 98115 postal zones to deliver cardboard containers and literature about the drill to each household. The cardboard containers will stand-in for medications that would be delivered in an actual emergency.

The Seattle Police will be deployed as part of security operations for the plan, so each team will consist of one postal carrier and one police officer.

The drill will begin early morning on Saturday, November 11 (Veteran’s Day), and run until late afternoon. Participation by postal carriers is voluntary. All participating USPS employees are eligible for holiday/overtime pay.

Households included in the drill and the general public will be informed prior to, during and after the exercise through a coordinated communications strategy, including use of a pre-event mailing, press conferences, and a web site.