Emergency services practice for chemical accident

A large casualty response exercise was recently held at Mineral County Airport, providing participants with the opportunity to evaluate current concepts, plans and capabilities for responding to a chemical incident.

The exercise was developed by the Mineral County LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee) and the Department of Emergency Services (DES). The exercise and materials were created with input, advice, and support from the LEPC exercise planning team, who followed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) guidelines.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, what is likely the county’s largest emergency drill began. While the airport was the scene of the simulated accident, personnel from Mineral County DES, Frenchtown Rural Fire District, West End/St. Regis/Superior Volunteer Fire Departments, Mineral County Highway Patrol, Mineral Community Hospital, Superior Area Ambulance Service, Montana Department of Transportation, Montana State Disaster and Emergency Services and the Life Flight network were on site or on the tarmac.

Less than an hour later, the emergency room at Mineral Community Hospital was swarming with 13 patients, both actors and those in need of care. Air ambulances were dispatched from every ambulance in the county, and Frenchtown was providing the necessary care and accommodations for the patients.

Amy Parks of Mineral County Disaster Emergency Services explained the basics of patient placement.

“Everyone is taken to the hospital from here (Mineral County Airport), and of course those with the most serious injuries are taken first. But MCH may not have the resources for an emergency of this nature, so they work to find medical facilities that can take the patients. The paramedics describe the injuries to the emergency department via radio, sometimes even cell phone, so they have a good idea of what to expect. And that also gives them an indication of what treatment is going to be needed, so they start calling medical facilities. This is all live play, physically calling and talking in real time.”

Parks said this exercise was considered a medical emergency response for MCH and that they were using their trained internal emergency procedures.

A debriefing was held that evening and there will soon be an After Action Report (AAR) meeting with documentation while it is still fresh in everyone’s mind. All participants were given a form to fill out to describe how they felt about the process and what improvements they recommend. The AAR discussion will discuss what worked, what could have been done more efficiently and what they think needs more training.

Parks concluded by saying, “We will take the information we have from this exercise and replay it at a later date.”

Regular meetings of the Mineral County LEPC are held on the first Thursday of each month at 4 p.m. in the County Commissioners Conference Room. The public is invited to attend.