How Coast Hospitals Stay Prepared
Mass shootings are something we hope never happens but just in case one does, how would local hospitals respond to the increased amount of patients? News 25’s Kristen Durand shows us how Coast hospitals stay ready.
In a scene like the recent shooting in San Bernardino, there are critical moments to treat those who are wounded and doctors and nurses know that at any moment they could be overwhelmed with an influx of patients needing emergency treatment. Emergency room physician Perry Walton said, “It can happen anytime. That’s the one thing I’ve learned working in emergency medicine is that every day is different and we never know what’s going to come through the door.”
How do Coast hospitals stay prepared? Ocean Springs Hospital and Singing River Hospital conduct quarterly drills to keep everyone ready for the worst. Emergency Department Patient Care Manager David Higdon said, “Some of them are like the ones that we’ve had in the last two days where we use actual victims and we have patients that are either made up to portray those types of injuries we are expecting to drill on, sometimes it’s a tabletop kind of exercise.”
On Wednesday, Ocean Springs Hospital simulated an emergency room environment where they received 10 shooting victims. Being able to recognize their strengths and weaknesses are critical when training for a situation you can never be too prepared for. Facilities Manager and Safety Officer Ken Goff said, “We set up an incident command system so that we can sustain the response, not only respond immediately but to sustain the response as well.”
Physicians say the key to taking care of a mass casualty event is teamwork. While they don’t look forward to a tragic event happening, they know they can count on the whole hospital to pitch in. “So, it’s not just the emergency department staff but it involves the staff members from all the other ancillary departments, we have lab radiology, operating room, respiratory therapists and a lot of other nurses that are available but working on other units at the time,” said Higdon.
Physicians rely greatly on the strong work of first responders out in the field to know exactly what is coming their way and who needs the most immediate attention.
In a scene like the recent shooting in San Bernardino, there are critical moments to treat those who are wounded and doctors and nurses know that at any moment they could be overwhelmed with an influx of patients needing emergency treatment. Emergency room physician Perry Walton said, “It can happen anytime. That’s the one thing I’ve learned working in emergency medicine is that every day is different and we never know what’s going to come through the door.”
How do Coast hospitals stay prepared? Ocean Springs Hospital and Singing River Hospital conduct quarterly drills to keep everyone ready for the worst. Emergency Department Patient Care Manager David Higdon said, “Some of them are like the ones that we’ve had in the last two days where we use actual victims and we have patients that are either made up to portray those types of injuries we are expecting to drill on, sometimes it’s a tabletop kind of exercise.”
On Wednesday, Ocean Springs Hospital simulated an emergency room environment where they received 10 shooting victims. Being able to recognize their strengths and weaknesses are critical when training for a situation you can never be too prepared for. Facilities Manager and Safety Officer Ken Goff said, “We set up an incident command system so that we can sustain the response, not only respond immediately but to sustain the response as well.”
Physicians say the key to taking care of a mass casualty event is teamwork. While they don’t look forward to a tragic event happening, they know they can count on the whole hospital to pitch in. “So, it’s not just the emergency department staff but it involves the staff members from all the other ancillary departments, we have lab radiology, operating room, respiratory therapists and a lot of other nurses that are available but working on other units at the time,” said Higdon.
Physicians rely greatly on the strong work of first responders out in the field to know exactly what is coming their way and who needs the most immediate attention.
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