ANMC participates in community-wide disaster drill
May 3, 2018
On Tuesday, April 10, more than 60 ANTHC staff participated in a community-wide earthquake disaster response drill. The purpose of the drill was to practice disaster preparedness and response with other local hospitals, the Municipality of Anchorage and the State of Alaska Emergency Response office in preparation for future emergency events.
ANTHC staff working at the ANMC hospital simulated their organizational response to a scenario that involved receiving a surge of mass casualty patients, including patients who have both minor and critical injuries. An Incident Command Center was set up at ANMC in Hospital Administration, and one ANMC executive was stationed at the Emergency Operations Center located in downtown Anchorage. Drill volunteers included students from the EMS and Fire Response class at the King Career Center, who are working toward careers in emergency response.
Staff trained in various hospital incident command system roles in order to ensure they had a deep bench of prepared responders. In addition, ANMC departments reviewed their emergency procedures in preparation for the drill. It was a multidisciplinary drill, with many departments across the ANMC hospital participating and testing their emergency preparedness procedures.
“I was really impressed with our ability to provide care for patients in a mass casualty situation,” said LeeAnn Garrick, Vice President of Administrative Services. “We have dedicated staff who are prepared to take on patients and troubleshoot quickly. Everyone worked together as a team so well.”
Our partner, Southcentral Foundation, also participated in the drill and staff were also able to exercise their emergency preparedness procedures. During the drill, the Anchorage Native Primary Care Center was designated as an overflow location for patients with minor emergencies.