Mass casualty drill simulates air show crash

The drill was designed to prepare personnel involved in the air show to respond to scenarios involving downed aircraft and personnel cas-ualties. ''This drill

allowed us to work out any kinks prior to the air show. Base security, medical and the fire department set up exactly the way we will be setting up for the actual show,'' stated Disaster Preparedness Officer DCCS(SW) Matt Melott. ''The plane that we had out there caught fire and all hands responded to it like it was the real thing. We had more than 40 casualties on hand and they were actually treated by medical and transported to the hospital. This allowed us to evaluate the emergency response and see where we need improvement.''

NAS Jacksonville firefighters load an injured victim of the mass casualty drill onto a stretcher for transport to the triage unit set up by medical staff at the site.

The drill consisted of a smoking aircraft that simulated a crashed plane into a crowd line at an air show. The fire department put out the fire and other members of the fire department moved on to assist in clearing the disaster area of casualties. There were victims lying around the aircraft with tags on them to let rescue personnel know what their injuries were.

Some victims had only minor injuries but there were more serious cases on hand for the rescue personnel to tackle. There were casualties with severe burns, amputees and even ''dead'' victims. The fire department rounded up the victims by injury classification.

If victims were able to walk, they were directed to the staged medical triage area. Stretcher bearers were on hand to move the rest of the casualties and then those victims were transported via ambulance to Naval Hospital Jax for treatment.

''We identified casualties and transported them according to the degree of their injuries. In a real scenario, outside agencies such as fire and police departments, ambulance companies and hospitals will be alerted and they will assist by sending us their assets to help move casualties,'' stated Medical Incident Commander Steve Parrish.

Capt. Alvis Hickey of the NAS Jax Fire Department, responds to a victim at the scene of the simulated aircraft crash.

Naval Hospital Jacksonville also took the opportunity to earn a major qualification during the drill. ''Every year, the hospital staff has to earn a qualification related to mass casualties. The number of casualties that we are sending the hospital today will satisfy those requirements,'' said Parrish. ''Training has to be dynamic because every day we have new personnel reporting and people transferring. These drills keep everyone up to par on their duties.''

All departments involved with the evolution were overall pleased with the performance of their teams. ''We found some things that we need to fix and we'll do that. Overall, it went well and departments interacted in an extremely efficient manner,'' stated Battalion Chief for Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting David Lanier.

''Today's drill went very well especially from a volunteer standpoint. We had a lot of Sailors out there that don't normally take part in this type of scenario on a daily basis. They now have a new appreciation of what their role is going to be in a contingency situation where they are not normally prepared to do this type of thing,'' added Air Show Director Cmdr. Ted Carter.

After the simulated aircraft crash, emergency responders worked quickly through the smoke, getting assistance and first aid to those in need.

''Sure, there are areas for improvement and that's why we train this way. I have absolute confidence in the folks that participated today and we will be ready for the air show.''

Lt. Carmen Harmon and Lt. Andrew Bretapele evaluate a patient's condition. Photo by HM1(SW) Michael Morgan

Emergency personnel remove a patient from an ambulance as it arrives at the Naval Hospital Jacksonville Emergency Department. Photo by HM1(SW) Michael Morgan