Photo By Jason W. Edwards | Staff members rush a simulated patient into the emergency room during the San Antonio...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Oct. 24, 2024) – Brooke Army Medical Center participated in the San Antonio Mass Casualty Exercise and Evaluation Oct. 23.
The annual exercise is designed to assess the surge capabilities of the hospitals in the 26,000 square-mile region covered by the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council. The exercise specifically tests the region’s capabilities to respond to a mass casualty incident by assessing participating hospitals’ patient triage procedures, treatment processes, and patient tracking abilities. It also tests regional communications, WebEOC (cloud-based emergency management communications platform) usage, logistics, and emergency services capabilities.
“The exercise we're doing today is important because it gives us an opportunity to validate our skills, coordinate with our community partners, and demonstrate that we are prepared in the ways that we think that we are,” said Army Col. James McWherter, BAMC deputy commander for administration and the incident commander in the emergency operations center. “It also gives us a chance to stress our system, identify gaps, and get after things that we can improve on.”
This year’s exercise scenario involved a train explosion next to the Alamo Dome where a large-scale event was happening.
“One of the cars was (notionally) detonated, which caused a significant explosion, thereby affecting the structure of the Alamo Dome itself, resulting in partial collapse of the Alamo Dome, which resulted in a significant number of trauma patients.” explained George Wible, BAMC emergency manager. “In addition, one of the train cars was carrying ammonium nitrate, which allowed us to exercise our patient decontamination capability. The scenario had several explosions, thereby creating a significant number of patients for not only us, but the other hospitals within the region.”
BAMC is one of two Level I trauma centers in San Antonio. During a real-world emergency many critically injured patients would come to BAMC for care.
Nearly 600 volunteers and role players acted as victims, friends, and family members to stress the system. Of those, BAMC received 61 patients with varying degrees of injuries including chemical burns, minor lacerations, and significant wounds.
BAMC stood up a decontamination tent outside the Emergency Department entrance to clean the patients before they entered the facility for care.
Army Capt. Darren Smith, the officer in charge of the decontamination team, said it was a chance for the team to practice on actual people instead of the mannequins they typically use for training.
“There are a few areas that we need to work on,” Smith said. “Trying to get all on the same page is always the best thing to do.”
Smith saw the exercise as an opportunity to see what their deficiencies are so they can improve and be ready for a real-world event.
“Plans are a good idea, but unless you exercise them and actually put them to the test, they're nothing more than words on paper,” Wible said. “By doing this, it allows us to assess our plan, what we do, and (ask ourselves) does that work? And if not, then it gives us the opportunity, without real lives at risk, to go back and reassess our plans and adjust them accordingly.”
Wible said the exercise not only tested the decontamination team and the emergency department, but it also touched other areas throughout the organization including surgery, intensive care, pediatrics, patient administration, behavioral health, and many others.
McWherter is thankful the BAMC staff is so prepared for emergencies.
“I would like to thank the staff for the things that they do every single day and for the high level of competency and professionalism that they have,” he said. “I think we've seen that here today, and they've demonstrated that they are some of the best in the entire DOD (Department of Defense). They're really a shining light for the entire San Antonio area when it comes to emergency response.”
“I would also like to thank our community partners, especially the STRAC, for helping us get this done,” he added. “It's great partnerships all across San Antonio that really make the medical community as strong as it is.”
| Date Taken: | 10.24.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.24.2024 11:07 |
| Story ID: | 483848 |
| Location: | TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 386 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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