Drill helps hospital prepare for the worst




SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn NewspapersALMOST REAL—Elmer  Chen,  a  16-year-old  Oak Park  HighSchool student and volunteer at Los Robles Hospital, reacts to asimulated  pesticide  spraying  during  a  hazardous  material(Hazmat) drill Tuesday at the hospital.

SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn NewspapersALMOST REAL—Elmer Chen, a 16-year-old Oak Park HighSchool student and volunteer at Los Robles Hospital, reacts to asimulated pesticide spraying during a hazardous material(Hazmat) drill Tuesday at the hospital.


By Sylvie Belmondbelmond@theacorn.com

Sick people are rushing into

the Los Robles Hospital and

Medical Center emergency room

while paramedics, nurses and

physicians scramble to treat them.

In Tuesday’s drill, it appears that a

toxic substance–-the result of an

accident or bioterrorism—has

contaminated a local park.

Coughing, vomiting, drooling, and suffering from intolerable abdominal pain, patients began to pour into Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center while

emergency personnel hurriedly

set up cross-contamination prevention zones.

As he sat on a gurney twisting

in pain, a young man told hospital workers that landscapers had

sprayed a pesticide at the Thousand Oaks Community Center

park, unaware that people were in

the area.

A bright yellow decontamination chamber was quickly set up

near the emergency room.

Diane Freeman, emergency

department director, coordinated

the effort to contain the spread of

the unknown toxic substance that

was making ill yet another group

of incoming patients, who were

running towards the ER.

Fortunately, that scenario was

just a simulation, and the actors

were volunteers.

The drill, organized by the Los

Robles Emergency Preparedness

team, helped to prepare everyone

at the hospital in the event of a

hazardous material (hazmat) contamination.

“Drills are important because

they help us identify the gaps,”

said Freeman.

Los Robles could possibly encounter a hazmat incident because

some trains going through

Moorpark and Simi Valley carry

toxic materials, said Kris

Carraway-Bowman, Los Robles

spokesperson.

Tuesday’s drill uncovered

some problems with traffic control and security, said Freeman,

following a briefing to discuss the

event. She said hospital officials

plan to resolve the weaknesses.

Although the hospital organizes several drills each year to

deal with a variety of issues,

hazmat incidents are unique because people have to be decontaminated before they come into

the emergency room or the hospital.

Los Robles is prepared, said

Carraway-Bowman. “We are the

only hospital in Ventura County

that has a decontamination room

dedicated for this.”

Several people can be decontaminated simultaneously in the

room, which is outside of the ER.

Nonetheless, hospital workers set

up a backup decontamination tent

during the drill to ensure that, if

necessary, more victims could be

handled.

In a hazmat situation, the hospital would also have to lock

down to prevent spreading the

agent inside the buildings. “No

one can come in or out because if

they did they would infect the entire hospital,” said CarrawayBowman.

Although Ventura County Fire

Department Capt. Brian Dilley

and his team from Medic Engine

34 came to observe, they might

not be available if this were a real

emergency, Dilley said.

The Ventura County Fire Department goes through extensive

decontamination training every

year, said firefighter and paramedic Michael Hansen, as he observed that some people who had

already been decontaminated

came back into a contaminated

zone. That would be a big problem in a real situation, he said.

“The main thing is to undress the patients, take them

though the showers and isolate

all the treatment areas,” Hansen

said.

The fire department is also

equipped to decontaminate victims at the site of the incident,

Hansen said.

In an actual hazmat situation, it’s unlikely that patients

would come directly to the hospital, said Freeman. They would

call Emergency Medical Services, who in turn would advise

the hospital about the number of

patients they should expect.

Ventura County is well-prepared overall, and agencies are

coordinated to maximize the effectiveness of their responses in

emergencies, said Freeman.

“No man is an island. If

there’s a disaster of any kind,

everyone has to collaborate.

That’s the only way to be able

to respond effectively,” Freeman said.

Individuals and institutions

should be able to function independently and know what their

resources are, said Freeman.


SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn NewspapersIT COULD HAPPEN HERE—Pretending  to  be  a  victim,  LosRobles volunteer  Maria Grago holds  her head while departingfrom an ambulance during an emergency drill.

SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn NewspapersIT COULD HAPPEN HERE—Pretending to be a victim, LosRobles volunteer Maria Grago holds her head while departingfrom an ambulance during an emergency drill.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *