University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center tests disaster preparedness with mass casualty drill

Hospital delivers excellent results responding to January 31 bus accident simulation

GEAUGA COUNTY – University Hospitals (UH) Geauga Medical Center is currently a provisional Level III Trauma Center recognized by the State of Ohio. To fulfill its requirement as a Trauma Center, the hospital tested its disaster preparedness by staging a mass casualty simulation drill on Friday, January 31.

“Hospitals throughout the nation are required by the government or the Joint Commission Accreditation of Hospitals to have a plan in place for any type of emergency,” says Peggy Kuhar, RN, MSN, FABC, Chief Nursing Officer, UH Geauga Medical Center. “With a disaster drill, our goal is to take that plan to the higher levels of effectiveness and efficiency.”

The drill scenario was set last November. The UH Geauga Medical Center Emergency Preparedness team worked with Geauga County’s fire and EMS squads to test their responses to a simulated tour bus accident involving about 60 people on State Route 322 near Alpine Valley Resort. The January UH Geauga Medical Center drill represented the completion of the scenario. It was conducted unannounced to test the entire staff’s readiness for a sudden surge of trauma patients.

Both drills were designed in collaboration with the Geauga County Emergency Management Agency. “We evaluated our process of working with EMS, our ability to communicate effectively and how well we initiated the hospital’s surge plan and disaster protocol,” says Rick Keleman, BSN, RN, Nurse Manager, Emergency Department, UH Geauga Medical Center. “We assessed our triage capabilities and our management of the participation of other hospital departments.”

Before the January 31 drill, the hospital’s Trauma team and administration received tactical and educational training, which included ‘tabletop’ simulations. “The model of teaching, tabletop exercises and full-scale drill is most effective for making sure we get the best results,” says Don Zimmerman, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, UH Geauga Medical Center.

The simulation began at the hospital at 7:00 a.m. when the Trauma team was notified and the disaster protocol was initiated. Thirteen bus accident “victims” arrived at the UH Geauga Medical Center Emergency Department with predetermined traumatic injuries at established time intervals. The injuries ranged from minor to life-threatening.

“Our Emergency team is well-prepared, but having 13 simulated victims in addition to real patients arriving with varied injuries is an extraordinary circumstance,” says Joseph DiBlasio, MD, Trauma Medical Director, UH Geauga Medical Center. “Each time we complete a disaster drill we learn a lot about our processes and improve our overall performance.”

The mass casualty drill lasted approximately 105 minutes. Staffing resources were mobilized; and a hospital command center was established. “The staff immediately went into disaster mode and appropriately identified which patients could be moved out of the area to make room for patients coming in,” says Shannon Swader, RN, Trauma Coordinator, UH Geauga Medical Center. “The Trauma team effectively prioritized which patients needed care most urgently and all departments worked well together. The ED physicians, trauma surgeons, nurses and ancillary services staff all did a fantastic job.” 

 “The results of the drill were outstanding,” says Zimmerman. “At no time did a patient wait longer than three minutes to proceed to a bed and be examined by a health care professional.”

“This excellent team performance should help to reinforce the community’s confidence in having a fully capable Trauma Center close by if a catastrophic emergency should occur,” says Swader. “We look forward to staging additional drills to test our proven expertise in caring for trauma patients.”