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Photos: Mass Casualty Exercise at Valley Medical Center

Emergency workers donned hazmat suits, complete with cooling vests to beat the heat, outside of the emergency room at Valley Medical Center to help triage a number of “patients” during a Mass Casualty Exercise. The patients consisted of local nursing school students who were acting out their symptoms, including one screaming for their daughter, and several dummies, a few inflated that workers had to decontaminate.

The disaster exercise simulated an explosion at a major sporting event here in the Bay Area, according to Jennifer Tong, M.D., chief experience officer for Santa Clara Valley Healthcare and director of the disaster operations team. The injured were covered in an unknown white powder and needed to be decontaminated for possible hazardous material before entering the hospital.

“Our exercise here today is really focused on what happens after individuals arrive at the hospital,” Tong said. “They might be coming via ambulance or they might be coming via private car.

“We are focused on how we would triage those patients, for who needs to first get into the hospital most urgently and how we would ensure that those individuals are safe to enter the hospital, no longer covered in hazardous materials.”

Valley Medical typically does two to three mass casualty exercises yearly, some without the hazardous material component. About 100 emergency workers from multiple departments, including emergency, radiology, language services, social work and members of the Red Cross participated in the training.

“This is really a critical part of our readiness for any sort of major disaster incident here in the Bay Area,” said Tong. The incidents they train for can range from accidental to intentional, such as a terrorist event. They practice and prepare to save lives if they encounter such scenarios.

Lyan Cogan, registered nurse, and Mario Holguin, security with Protective Services, were confronted with a “patient” who was staggering, appeared intoxicated, belligerent and yelled profanities. She was played by nursing student Masashi Endo, from Mission College. Endo had to be “decontaminated” before entering the hospital. He appeared to make a full recovery and will be graduating from Mission College next week.