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Beebe to stage evacuation exercise Oct. 22 in Lewes

Drill calls for transporting manikins, volunteers to other health facilities
October 18, 2016

The Division of Public Health is conducting a full scale, emergency evacuation exercise with Beebe Healthcare and other emergency services agencies Saturday, Oct. 22.

The exercise scenario is that a thunderstorm brings a sudden wind storm, with wind speeds up to 125 mph, that knocks out the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system on the roof, damages the roof itself and partially collapses a hospital building on the Savannah Road campus in Lewes.

Patients must be evacuated from the facility, while healthcare workers also respond to 10 to 20 fatalities that would result when a portion of the hospital’s brick wall collapses on about 15 people, killing most of them. Patients, both manikins and volunteers, will be evacuated from Beebe Healthcare, including the emergency department, and sent to surrounding healthcare facilities. 

The purpose of this exercise is to test the health department, Beebe and general emergency-response systems in Delaware. Specific objectives being drilled are emergency operations coordination, fatality management, information sharing for healthcare facilities, medical surge for healthcare facilities, volunteer management, and evacuation, transfer and tracking of volunteer patients to other sites.

Other participating organizations include the Department of Transportation, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, the City of Lewes Fire Department, Sussex County Emergency Management Agency, Sussex County Emergency Medical Services, Amateur Radio Emergency Service and Amateur Radio Relay League. The exercise will take place on the grounds of Beebe Healthcare and inside hospital buildings and will last throughout the day.

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