Mass casualty drill a learning experience for first responders
Troy Volunteer Ambulance EMT Mike Jellesed tends to a patient at a mass casualty drill at J. Neils Memorial Park on Wednesday, June 14. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
Marcianna McKeever, left, and Ashley Cockerham participated in a mass casualty drill as patients of a bleacher collapse at J. Neils Memorial Park on Wednesday, June 14. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
Troy Volunteer Ambulance EMTs Ken Krauss and Janet Miller carry a patient to a waiting ambulance at a mass casualty drill at J. Neils Memorial Park on Wednesday, June 14. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
Libby Police Chief Cody Ercanbrack tends to the wounds of Brian Crompton at a mass casualty drill at J. Neils Memorial Park on Wednesday, June 14. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
Cadence Rebo took part in a mass casualty drill at J. Neils Memorial Park on Wednesday, June 14. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
Libby Volunteer Fire Department crew members place a patient on a backboard at a mass casualty drill at J. Neils Memorial Park on Wednesday, June 14. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
Libby Volunteer Ambulance EMT Edye Prather checks out a young patient at a mass casualty drill at J. Neils Memorial Park on Wednesday, June 14. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
Libby Volunteer Ambulance President Jeff Holder moves a liter at a mass casualty drill at J. Neils Memorial Park on Wednesday, June 14. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
The bleachers had collapsed, some were bloodied and scarred, and others weren’t as fortunate as first responders scrambled about to determine who needed immediate attention.
That scene was part of a mass casualty drill at J. Neils Memorial Park last week.
Cabinet Peaks Medical Center is in the process of becoming a designated trauma facility and running such a drill is a needed step in the process.
“It lets other hospitals and other ambulance services know what you’re capable of handing,” said Tyler Hanley, the Director of Emergency and Ancillary Services at Cabinet Peaks. “One of our doctors also said it had been about 15 years since there had been a mass casualty drill, so from that perspective it was good for everyone to get together, then decide what was done well and what needed improvement.”
Hanley said the hospital is seeking a Community Trauma Facility designation.
According to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, a CTF designation means a facility is able to provide limited emergency and surgical coverage.
“The process takes a year and our goal is to obtain the designation by November,” Hanley said.
The process includes making a report on every trauma patient and then reviewing the case with the doctors at the hospital for a one-year time period.
Volunteers, including school students, played the “victims.”
Many of south Lincoln County’s first responders, Libby Volunteer Ambulance, Troy Volunteer Ambulance, Libby Police Department, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Libby Volunteer Fire Department and Fisher River Fire Rescue, were also there. The Flathead Valley’s Two Bear Air would have made an appearance, but it had other commitments of the real kind.
They had to comb through about a dozen folks who had suffered various “injuries.”
Cadence Rebo wasn’t looking well as a board had slammed into her head and left a pool of “blood” on the ground under the bleachers. Marciana McKeever couldn’t feel her legs as her less-wounded friend Ashley Cockerham, crouched beside her, providing comfort and support until they could be transported.
After the “victims” were taken to Cabinet Peaks for the remainder of the drill, a lengthy debriefing among the first responders and hospital employees filled in the blanks in terms of determining improvements.
Jeff Holder, president of Libby Volunteer Ambulance, said his department trains monthly, but felt the mass casualty drill was a good idea.
“It gets the agencies together, we see what works and what could be improved, so it’s valuable,” Holder said.
Hanley agreed, “Everyone seemed to agree it went pretty well.”
