Valuable Information Learned from Multi-County Disaster Drill

Photo Caption: Tonya Mangus (right) and Kay Butler, nurses at the Trinity Hospital Twin City Emergency Department, work through a plan to treat “victims” during a mock disaster drill in late April.

--On April 25, Trinity Hospital Twin City, in conjunction with the Northeast Central Ohio Regional Disaster Planning Consortium (NECO) and a number of emergency management agencies, held a mock disaster exercise to test the hospitals’ abilities to respond to a devastating ice storm which swept through the region resulting in numerous simulated casualties and fatalities.

All 50 participating agencies among 13 counties were given the same scenario in order to assess their collaborative efforts in planning and responding, communicating with each other and sharing supplies, equipment or staff when possible. “Hospitals tested the ability to share multiple critical resources with other partner hospitals and agencies with great success. It was clearly demonstrated that hospitals and community partners are able to respond together to fulfill the needs of the community,”said Sarah Metzger, Director of the Akron Regional Hospital Association.

“Through these exercises, our hospital can demonstrate our capability to use systems and processes that will ensure appropriate care is provided for our patients in the midst of a disaster or incident that threatens community safety,” explained Joe Mitchell, Trinity Hospital Twin City President. “These mock exercises are a valuable learning tool to help us determine what we are doing well and identify those areas that need improved.”

Janet Brown, Trinity Hospital Twin City Preparedness Coordinator, noted, “It was a privilege to work with the NECO region on planning these drills and to see our hospital go into action to work through the many issues that arise within a drill. Our hospital continues to train and work together to ensure the safety of our patients, visitors and staff.”