According to some of the people involved in the City of Pembroke’s latest mock emergency exercise, the event went very smoothly.
The scenario, which was carried out on the morning of Wednesday, April 22nd, saw local students at the Pembroke Memorial Centre role-playing as if they’d suffered from ammonia intake to help local emergency responders get practice for real emergencies.
Heather Sutherland, the Emergency Information Officer for the City of Pembroke, espoused the importance of performing these exercises to make sure firefighters, police officers and paramedics are prepared.
Sutherland says the exercise showed strong coordination, and that it went well overall and met the city’s goals.
Communication within the Emergency Operations Centre was strong, Sutherland explained, with rapid updates being put together quickly and everyone being kept on the same page efficiently.
Afterwards, a debrief was held with all involved parties where Sutherland said some communication breakdowns and their causes were identified.
Rachel Robertson, a Manager of Risk Management and Patient Relations at Pembroke Regional Hospital, said the event went extremely smoothly on her end as well.
For them, it began when the hospital’s emergency department was informed of a “mass casualty event” with up to 25 patients being brought there.
According to Robertson, senior leaders, charge nurses and physicians were informed of the situation and a “command centre” was initiated.
While Robertson worked in the command centre directing workers, people within the emergency department prepared for the patients to arrive by getting charts, rooms and staff prepared in advance.
Based on the exercise, Robertson feels her team would respond extremely well in the event of a real emergency.
However, one of the pieces of feedback Robertson took away after the exercise was that communication between the City of Pembroke’s command centre and her team at the hospital could be improved.
Scott Selle, Pembroke’s Fire Chief and the primary organizer of the mock emergency exercise, was unavailable for comment.
(Written by Steve Berard)
