Contact:
Melissa Weisstuch
Vice President, Marketing
(914) 681-2380
mweisstuch@wphospital.org
White Plains, NY – June 3, 2009 – A “what if scenario” involving a dirty bomb detonation by a terrorist today tested the response of local hospitals, the City of White Plains Department of Public Safety and other agencies in the Hudson Valley to a large-scale event involving mass casualty injuries.
The interagency disaster drill began at 8:30 AM with a simulated terrorist incident at the former St. Agnes Hospital campus in White Plains. The White Plains Department of Public Safety responded to the incident and mitigated the threat posed by an “improvised explosive device.” Police, Fire and EMS personnel rendered aid to victims played by volunteers, and White Plains Fire and White Plains Hospital Center personnel decontaminated victims at the scene. Patients were brought to White Plains Hospital Center where they were triaged in a tent erected in the Emergency Room parking lot. The Hospital, in cooperation with Westchester County, conducted a mock evacuation of some of its patients in order to make room for casualties from the explosion.
Caption:
One of the ‘victims’ of the mock dirty bomb detonation is treated and decontaminated in the White Plains Hospital Center park lot where a triage tent was set up[. Another ‘parient’ with severe burns was taken by ambulance from White Plains Hospital Center to nearby NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Division for helicopter transportation to the burn unit at Westchester Medical Center.
The drill also tested the regional helicopter transport system. A ‘patient’ with severe burns was transported by ambulance from White Plains Hospital Center to the NewYork-Presbyterian campus on Bloomingdale Road. There, the patient was transported by helicopter to the burn unit at the Westchester Medical Center.
Frank G. Straub, Ph.D., Commissioner of Public Safety for the City of White Plains, said: "The recent arrest of subjects believed to be plotting attacks on religious institutions, airlines, and other targets in the New York metropolitan area demonstrates that we must remain vigilant and prepared to respond to a terrorist event. Today's exercise brings White Plains public safety assets - police, fire, and emergency medical services together with our mutual aid partners and hospitals to test our emergency response plan and response capabilities.”
He added: “This full-scale, multi-agency exercise continues the White Plains Department of Public Safety's commitment to emergency planning and preparedness. The exercise specifically tests the Department's hazardous materials response plan, multi-agency capabilities, interoperable communications, and the surge capacities of area hospitals.” Mr. Staub also noted that the exercise also tested the Department's recently established Rescue Medic Team (RMT). The RMT, staffed by highly trained and specially equipped fire and police personnel, provides basic and advanced emergency medical care to persons trapped in hostile or dangerous environments. The Rescue Medic Team was established in response to a critical need identified during last year's high rise fire exercise.
Jon B. Schandler, President and CEO of White Plains Hospital Center, said: “Exercises such as this are essential because they give us opportunity to test our Emergency Operations Plan before real disaster occurs. They also allow our personnel and volunteers to practice their identified emergency response roles in a simulated emergency event. We know that part of being prepared means periodic review, rewriting and practice of our emergency response plans.”
Mr. Schandler also said that the exercise also activated the mutual aid agreement between 31 hospitals in the Hudson Valley region to request additional staff and supplies to help in the response. He also said that the Hospital also conducted a Patient Influx Exercise (PainEx) during the drill. The Hospital is the first in the region to plan and conduct a PainEx, which will be a New York State Department of Health requirement for every hospital in the Hudson Valley in 2010.
Mayor Joseph Delfino commented “It is important for all of our emergency responders to get together during exercises like this to ensure the seamless integration of operations to protect the public. The partnership that is enjoyed every day among the participants gets tested and evaluated through drills like this. It is too important in today's world to assume that everything works, we need to test and evaluate the system to make sure that we have the best people doing the best job they can, and we do. White Plains can be assured that our people are working hard and working together to protect them and respond when they need them.”
“I want to thank our Public Safety Department, White Plains Hospital and all of the other partners for bringing all of these people together to make sure we have the best operation under the worst conditions.”
Other agencies participating in the drill included Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital—Westchester Division, Westchester EMS, Transcare, and Keller Army Hospital at West Point.
The disaster exercise is funded through a Department of Homeland Security grant. “The White Plains Department of Public Safety would like to acknowledge and thank Senator Charles Schumer, Representative Nita Lowey, Mayor Joseph M. Delfino, and the New York State Department of Homeland Security for the funding and their ongoing support," said Dr. Straub.
Participating Agencies
New York State SEMO Region 2
PAIN EX- Patient Influx Exercise
County
LifeNet
Westchester County Dept of Emergency Services
Westchester County Emergency Medical Services
Westchester Medical Center
Westchester County Office of Emergency Management
Westchester County Weill Cornell Medical Center
Local
White Plains Dept of Public Safety Fire and Police Bureaus
White Plains Hospital Medical Center
New York Presbyterian Hospital
Burke Rehabilitation Hospital
TransCare Ambulance
American Red Cross
Eastchester Fire Dept
White Plains Building Dept
Fairview Fire Dept
Greenville Hospital
Hartsdale Fire Dept
Keller Army Hospital
Phelps Memorial Hospital
Scarsdale Fire Dept
Croton EMS
Hudson Valley Paramedic Services
Pound Ridge VAC
Somers Fire Ambulance
