We never want to think about a mass casualty incident happening in our community, but preparations must be made to ensure a successful response should it become a reality. A collaborative Community Mass Casualty Drill took place on Wednesday, September 18 in Glasgow to test the community’s readiness for handling large-scale emergencies.
In today’s scenario, two school buses transporting students and staff collided, resulting in dozens of patients being triaged at the scene and transported for care. Volunteers from Barren County Schools, Glasgow Independent Schools, and Metcalfe County Schools played the roles of students and staff.
Bailey Purcell, an 8th grader at Barren County Middle Schools participated in the event, along with her brother. “I thought it was really cool,” she said. “It benefits everyone to be prepared, because anything can happen anywhere. It was good to see EMS and fire and the teams of doctors and nurses working with patients.”
Another participant, Natallie Pennington, is a junior at Metcalfe County High School. She said that she and her classmates volunteered to participate “to benefit the community.” She wanted to be part of it to help healthcare workers be prepared in case a similar event was to take place. “Overall it was definitely a learning experience,” she said. “I plan on going into healthcare and seeing all of these people work together and help each other out was reassuring to me.”
At the conclusion of the drill, all of the participants gathered to share an overview of the event, including the strengths and opportunities that were identified. Follow up training and process reviews will result in even better preparation based on what was learned at today’s drill.
Neil Thornbury, CEO of T.J. Regional Health thanked everyone involved in the event, which has been in the planning stages for several months. “Our community is special in a lot of ways,” he said. “It means a lot to members of our community when they get the chance to see all of these healthcare neighbors collaborating in preparation for this type of event. Thank you to everyone who participated today.”
About T.J. Regional Health
T.J. Regional Health, the parent system of T.J. Samson Community Hospital and T.J. Health Columbia is accredited by The Joint Commission and is the healthcare destination in southcentral Kentucky. In addition to two hospitals, the growing organization owns and operates the T.J. Health Pavilion, the Family Medicine Center and Residency Program, Hospice and Home Care Services, T.J. Orthopedics, Rural Health Clinics throughout southcentral Kentucky, and R+ Med Spa. For more information about the services offered at T.J. Regional Health, please visit www.tjregionalhealth.org.
(Stacey Biggs, EVP of Marketing, Planning & Development – T.J. Regional Health)