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Local Voices

Emerson Partners with Concord-Carlisle High School to Conduct Successful Mass Casualty Exercise

Emerson Hospital is dedicated to protecting and healing the most vulnerable members of the community. As part of that commitment, Emerson partnered with students from Concord-Carlisle High School’s theater programs to conduct its annual mass casualty exercise on Oct. 17.

 

The premise of the exercise was a mock school bus accident that sent 17 students to the Emergency Department. As scripted, the student role players reported a range of injuries, including lacerations, fractures and head injuries. Emerson physicians, nurses and staff members triaged and treated the “patients,” while focusing on communication and information flow through the onsite Incident Command Center.

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Jekaterina Porter, director of environmental health and safety at Emerson, said it is important to periodically assess the hospital’s ability to maintain high-quality health care services and operations under duress. The exercise tested external notification, internal communications, patient triage and registration, clinical procedures, assessment of available equipment and staffing resources, traffic and crowd control and patient tracking systems.

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Staff members participated from departments hospital-wide, including Administration, the Emergency Department, Nursing, Pediatric Intervention Team, Safety, Security, Transport, Supply Chain, Behavioral Health and Environmental Services. Following the exercise, all participants gathered in a conference room to evaluate overall performance and identify potential improvements.

 

“Real-life incidents like this one are common, unfortunately, so the likelihood of a large-scale accident involving Emerson staff and resources is high,” Porter said. “Drills and exercises that enable us to evaluate our policies, procedures and responses ensure that we remain prepared for any scenario.”

 

Carly Dwyer, director of the theater program at Concord-Carlisle High School, said the collaboration with Emerson was a valuable experience for the students.

 

“They were honored to be invited to participate in an exercise that could have real impact on their community,” she said.

 

Emerson Hospital is a multi-site health system headquartered in Concord, Mass., with additional facilities in Sudbury, Groton and Westford. The 179-bed hospital provides advanced medical services to more than 300,000 individuals in 25 towns. To learn more, visit www.emersonhospital.org.
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