Castleview Hospital, first-responders practice response to Parkland-style massacre
On the morning of June 21, local emergency first responders engaged in an active shooter drill.
The scenario played out with students at Carbon High School being targeted by two active shooters, similar to a recent mass shooting incident in Parkland Florida.
Law enforcement rushed to the scene, neutralized the threat and triaged the play victims. After administering emergency medical care, Carbon County ambulances transported the victims to Castleview Hospital.
The hospital activated its incident command center immediately upon learning of the active shooter drill at Carbon High.
All hospital employees were notified of the drill through “overhead paging and a reverse 911 system.”
Employees, volunteers and doctors were briefed on what actions they needed to take.
The victims were triaged, given medical care and next of kin of any deceased patients were notified.
According to Castleview Hospital Public Information Officer Misty Birch there were 14 injuries. Five patients were hospitalized, three in critical condition, two non critical.
The only casualty was one of the active shooters, the other one was taken into custody.
During a real emergency the hospital would be completely locked down. All elective surgery would be canceled. If necessary operations could be performed at the “surgery center on the hill.”
Helicopters carrying victims could land in the hospital parking lot. A media center would be set up outside the hospital.
The goal of the mass casualty management training is to sharpen the skills of local emergency first responders.
This enables effective coordination and an effective interagency response. A debriefing was held at the hospital and the following statement was released to the press.
“The hands-on experience will be provided through this field exercise to ensure that participants gain working knowledge of a mass casualty triage system, stabilizing victims, radio communications, command system. supply management and stress management in disasters. It will also give participants a clear understanding of potential risk and demonstrate the key principles in organizing a disaster site.”
Agencies participating in the drill included Carbon County EMS, Price City Fire Department, Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, Carbon County Emergency Management, Southeastern Utah District Health Department, Carbon County SWAT and local victims’ advocates.