Gulf Breeze Hospital practices disaster response readiness
BY JOE CULPEPPER Gulf Breeze News joe@gulfbreezenews.com

Joe Culpepper/Gulf Breeze News A first responder from Lifeguard Ambulance wheels a bus accident victim toward the emergency room entrance.

Gulf Breeze Hospital and its Baptist Health Care affiliates in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties conducted a multi-level disaster drill May 8 to sharpen their response skills.

Staff and support groups like Gulf Breeze and Midway fire departments and Lifeguard Ambulance simulated two major emergencies - a train derailment with chemical spill and a commercial bus accident.

Soldiers from Hurlburt Field played the role of victims, some of whom were transported to Gulf Breeze Hospital. There, victims of the train derailment and chemical spill were decontaminated and processed into the emergency room. Trauma victims of the simulated bus crash also were admitted for acute care. One victim was transported from Gulf Breeze Hospital to Pensacola's Baptist Hospital via Lifeflight helicopter.

The drill included a one-day classroom preview Wednesday before the emergencies were staged the following day.

"We have all hands on deck from the nursing staff to administration to dietary to operations planning," Baptist public information officer Candy McGuyer said. "We're working in conjunction with Emergency Operations Centers in both counties. We stage the disaster, and then we do an evaluation. We explore the areas where we can improve and incorporate those changes into our planning."

Joe Culpepper/Gulf Breeze News A decontamination expert and doctor prepare a victim with facial trauma to be whisked into the Gulf Breeze Hospital.

Some victims arrived via ambulance, while others were transported to the hospital in private vehicles. Some victims had cosmetic abrasions, cuts and bruises. At least one simulation victim was dead on arrival.

A field operations center was set up near the Gulf Breeze Hospital emergency room entrance to decontaminate and process the injured.

"All of our team members play a critical role in creating a system that can process a significant number of patients with various injuries in a relatively short period of time with no anticipation or warning," Gulf Breeze Hospital administrator Bob Harriman said.

"We take these exercises very seriously so we can meet the needs of the community in an efficient and professional manner during natural or man-made disasters."

Joe Culpepper/Gulf Breeze News After determining one victim needed more acute care following a simulated bus crash, personnel from Baptist LifeFlight prepare to transport their patient to a Pensacola facility.

On hand to monitor the exercise was Andy Anderson, Director of Public Health Preparedness with the Santa Rosa County Health Department. He was busy documenting the response for further study.

"They looked really good today," Anderson said of the Gulf Breeze Hospital response team. "They did this last year, and I can see a lot of improvements over last year."

There are no train tracks in the Gulf Breeze area, but commercial transportation accidents always are highly possible on dangerous U.S. Highway 98.

"Don't forget that we have plenty of ships coming through our waters with all kinds of chemicals in them," Anderson said.

"There's the potential for a lot of different types of accidents and emergencies in our county. We could have a fire at a retirement home or something like that.

"It's best to be ready for whatever might occur."