Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (SVMHS) hosted a county wide
mass casualty incident (MCI) exercise Thursday morning. The annual drill
is designed to coordinate emergency care and response during a high level
county wide emergency involving medical needs and various agencies.
The scenario for this exercise consisted of a local school being sprayed
with a fertilizing agent. As a result, dozens of patients arrived to the
SVMHS Emergency Department needing decontamination and emergency medical
treatment. Approximately 50 students from local high schools volunteered
as patients in this drill. A decontamination tent was deployed outside
of the hospital to remove any hazardous agents prior to patients being
admitted to the Emergency Room.
“This emergency drill is very important,” says Jeremy Hadland,
RN, Clinical Manager Emergency Department. “It allows Salinas Valley
Memorial and other organizations to practice response coordination, communication,
and delivery of care. It also allows us to identify areas for improvement.”
The coordinated medical treatment included an examination, decontamination,
acuity assessment and placement in low, moderate or high medical needs
categories. Representatives from every participating agency took part
in a debriefing exercise following the drill and concluded it was successful
and extremely valuable.
The exercise involved collaboration between SVMHS, Natividad Medical Center,
Mee Memorial Hospital, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP),
as well as Salinas Fire Department, Monterey County Office of Emergency
Services, Monterey County Hazardous Materials Team and AMR Ambulance Service.