Mass casualty exercise set at Beebe Sept. 26
In efforts to increase awareness of the Stop the Bleed national campaign and prepare team members and partners on how to better respond in the event of an unfortunate real-life emergency, Beebe Healthcare's Emergency Management Department, Trauma Department and Emergency Department will conduct a mass casualty exercise with several partner emergency services agencies Tuesday, Sept. 26, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and a call to action intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. For more information, visit dhs.gov/stopthebleed.
The September 26th Drill Scenario plays out as follows: An accidental gas explosion at Beebe Healthcare's Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing occurred, resulting in injuries to the students and faculty (not a terrorism incident). Injuries result in minor injuries to major injuries including amputations and severe lacerations with large loss of blood.
The goals and objective of this exercise are:
- Promote Stop the Bleed campaign and teach as many people the day of the exercise about the campaign and show everyone who comes to use the techniques for stopping bleeding and applying a tourniquet.
- Familiarize the ED staff with blast injuries and injuries that would require tourniquet application for the trauma patients.
- Teaching to all hospital staff will be ongoing for two weeks around the exercise.
- Partner with outside agencies on the campaign and let the event become a teachable experience for all the Beebe staff who want to learn about this.
- The other organizations participating in the drill include: Sussex County Paramedics, Cape Henlopen JROTC cadets, and Lewes Fire & EMS.
