Local Responders Train for the Worst
This Weekend's Mass Casualty Exercises Prepare First-Responders
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund.
BAR HARBOR—A planned public safety agency exercise at Mount Desert Island High School brought both high school volunteers and emergency responders to the parking lot Saturday, April 19.
The island-wide mass casualty exercise saw most of those attending volunteering their weekend morning to work on their collaborative skills for a large-scale response.
“You will see many emergency vehicles and helicopters in the area of the high school and moving about MDI. This is a planned exercise that all MDI public safety agencies are participating in,” the Bar Harbor Fire Department explained.
Also participating was the Hancock County RCC, MDI Hospital, Northern Light Maine Coast Memorial Hospital, Hancock County, Maine, Emergency Management Agency, LifeFlight of Maine, Trenton Vol. Fire Department, and Northern Light Medical Transport. Tremont Fire Department provided station coverage.
“These types of trainings are all about building strong partnerships and making sure we’re ready to respond together when it counts. It’s always impressive to see how well our local agencies come together and operate as one,” the Southwest Harbor Fire Department explained.
The National Library of Medicine defines a mass casualty incident as “an event that overwhelms the local healthcare system, where the number of casualties vastly exceeds the local resources and capabilities in a short period of time.”
While at first glance, rural settings may not seem to need to plan for mass casualties, it’s important.
“Mass casualty incidents in rural areas often occur without warning, garnering the name ‘no notice’ events or incidents. In any community, but particularly in rural communities, mass casualty incidents have the potential to quickly exhaust the resources available for a response,” writes the Rural Health Information Hub (RHIH).
This incident involved a small school bus on its side and two other motor vehicles in various states of disrepair.
“Ongoing training for mass casualty incidents and regular practice drills can help prepare first responders and hospital personnel for the ‘chaotic atmosphere’ of a mass casualty incident,'“ the RHIH states. “Staff and personnel should be pre-trained to deliver ‘just-in-time training’ to bystanders and spontaneous volunteers who may arrive at the scene of a mass casualty incident.”
On Mount Desert Island, multiple departments train singularly and together throughout the year. Incidents on the island often call for collaborative responses depending on what’s happening and where. A structure fire will often see departments calling out for aid across the island and from off-island Hancock County agencies. Ambulance calls will also see departments working together. Every time LifeFlight or a hospital is involved in a response, it becomes a collaboration.
Coordinating large exercises such as Saturday’s also requires training and manpower. They’ve been happening for years. In 1992, Sid Salvatore organized a disaster drill at the Bar Harbor-Hancock County Airport in Trenton. Back in 1984 a drill focused on a mock accident in Southwest Harbor made papers. That one was coordinated by Mount Desert Island Hospital.
Photos: Shaun Farrar/Carrie Jones/Bar Harbor Story
Update: We updated this story at 2 p.m., April 21, to include Tremont Fire, which provided station coverage according to one of its lieutenants.
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