SwedishAmerican Holds Trauma Disaster Drill to Train Employees
SwedishAmerican Hospital conducted a construction site collapse trauma disaster drill exercise in the Emergency Department on Friday, July 7. The scenario was based on a large 6-story old factory that collapsed during a construction restoration project in downtown Rockford. Multiple workers were struck by debris, fell from a significant height or trapped under fallen rubble and several patients were brought to SwedishAmerican’s Emergency Department.
The purpose of the exercise was to test SwedishAmerican’s Response Plan and identify weaknesses in need of improvement. It’s a test of logistics (e.g. equipment, process, casualty tracking, casualty movement and communications) as it is a test of casualty care. During the exercise, SwedishAmerican employees acted as patients with particular injuries and issues. Staff who participated in the drill was unaware of the exercise as the drill was intended to catch them off guard and strain the system.
“SwedishAmerican is a major resource for our community and in order to better our staff and our hospital, it is important to hold disaster drills so that we can be prepared for any type of emergency situation that comes through our doors,” says SwedishAmerican Trauma Services Manager Jennifer Pirrello. “I was very impressed with our staff. They did a great job and everyone bettered themselves today.”
SwedishAmerican patients and visitors were not affected by the drill. Hospital personnel were available to assist and reroute guests to appropriate entrances when needed.
About SwedishAmerican
A division of UW Health, SwedishAmerican is dedicated to providing excellence in healthcare and compassionate care to the community. The organization serves residents of 12 counties in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin through a dedicated and caring staff, a major acute care hospital and a free-standing outpatient cancer center in Rockford, a medical center in Belvidere, a network of 30 primary care and multi-specialty clinics and the region’s largest home healthcare agency. Additionally, SwedishAmerican has achieved Magnet® recognition as a reflection of its nursing professionalism, teamwork and superiority in patient care.