NORFOLK, Va. — Ambulance after ambulance pulled up at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Saturday morning as paramedics rushed people inside the emergency room -- but none of the injuries are real and the patients are all actors.
Healthcare workers there hosted a mass casualty training drill involving the entire hospital; Everyone from paramedics first on the scene to nurses and doctors in the operating room took part.
Sentara Health’s Director of System Emergency Management, Patti Montes said it's a chance for the hospital to test how it would respond in a real-life scenario like a mass shooting
“We are practicing. This is a large, full-scale exercise around an active shooter event in the community," Montes said. “This is an influx of about 50 patients from an active shooter event at Town Point Park.”
Again, none of this is real. Dozens of actors put on makeup depicting gunshot wounds and other injuries healthcare workers might encounter in the real world.
“People were here at 6 this morning being what we call moulaged, so we basically apply makeup and simulate a lot of injuries where we can," Montes said.
She explained that the point of this drill is to test the hospital’s ability to manage and respond to a mass casualty event.
“Part of our scenario is half of our victims are coming by private vehicle," she said.
As these pretend-patients arrive at the emergency department, it’s up to healthcare staff to decide whether they go to intensive care, the operating room, or are discharged.
Montes said a mass casualty event isn’t just a shooting, it can be anything from a car crash to a HAZMAT accident; It’s any situation with multiple injuries.
“This is our opportunity to rehearse and hone our skills and hone our processes so, god forbid we have a real event, we can respond better for the community," Montes said.
She pointed out that Sentara healthcare workers have responded to mass casualty events before, including the Walmart mass shooting in Chesapeake and the May 31st mass shooting at the Virginia Beach municipal center.
“Fortunately, or unfortunately, I participated in the 5/31 response and we had the lesson we learned there that we’re applying here today," she said. "It goes for everyone from the care of the patient, to the identification of the victims, to protecting the privacy of the victims, and the post-care of the victims. So those lessons even from 5/31 are being applied here today.”
They'll compile everything they learned today into a teaching moment, and will share it with hospital staffs across Hampton roads to better educate healthcare workers on how to respond.
“It wont just be for Sentara, we’ll share those lessons with Riverside, Bon Secours, Chesapeake Regional, CHKD - because when it comes to emergency preparedness and response – we are truly a community,” Montes said.
She said this is the first time in four years the hospital system got a chance to practice this training. She said the COVID-19 pandemic forced administrators to pause the drill.
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters also conducted a casualty event this morning with actors there pretending to be patients.