Reid mass casualty drill interrupted by real emergency
A scheduled Code Green Drill at Reid Hospital Thursday afternoon went really well for about an hour - until the event was interrupted early by a real emergency.
“This might be one for the record books,” said Jennifer Ehlers, Reid vice president who was in charge of the Incident Command Center, activated for both the drill and then for the actual emergency – a chemical leak in the hospital’s sub-basement.
The Code Green drill, which tests readiness and response to a mass casualty situation, in itself is a major undertaking, she said. “This involved Reid Hospital, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, Richmond Police and Fire departments, Wayne County Emergency Management, Rural Metro Ambulance and dispatchers,” she said. “Also participating were approximately 30 students and administrators from Richmond High School.”
“We work to make these drills as realistic as possible so everyone is better able and ready to handle real emergencies,” Ehlers said. The students were brought from a mock accident scene to the hospital, complete with “make-up” injuries and stressed out “parents.”
While the “patients” were being received and treated in the Reid Emergency Department and two triage areas in the main lobby, a chemical leak occurred in the hospital laundry area, forcing an immediate end to the drill. “As soon as the leak was discovered, we announced on the hospital’s PA system an end to that drill and implementation of a “Code Decon” or hazardous chemical spill alert,” Ehlers said.
The students helping in the drill were quickly gathered, accounted for and loaded back on a bus to go back to the high school, even as units from Richmond Fire Department set up outside Reid’s emergency entrance.
No one was injured in the leak, which early investigation indicated was from a pipe or a hose connecting to a tank holding cleaning chemicals used in washing linens. The spill required two to three hours to clean up and put the hospital’s sub-basement off limits.
“Otherwise, we were back to normal operations by 4 p.m.,” Ehlers said.
Ehlers said from 20 to 30 Reid team members in the Business office on the first floor were evacuated as a precaution because their offices were above the spill. No visitor traffic was allowed into the hospital for about 45 minutes while hazardous materials experts from the Richmond Fire Department investigated the spill.
Ehlers said she was impressed by how well everyone involved – the Reid team, police, fire and school officials – rallied to “change gears” from a mock event to a real event.
“You never want a disaster to happen, but we and our partners in the schools, fire, police and sheriff’s departments know how important it is to be prepared,” Ehlers said. “Today’s events have affirmed how well prepared we are.”
