Westchester County Airport (HPN) Drill

[WAS967 97]

Okay, now that the dust has settled, the sunburn has likely set in and people are done stuffing their faces with burgers - how did the drill go? Any reports/pictures?

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Lohud Article:

http://whiteplains.lohudblogs.com/2010/05/01/emergency-drill-conducted-at-westchester-county-airport/

Lohud Pictures:

http://jukebox.lohud.com/photos/refers/index.php?gallery=Airport%20emergency%20drill

[ny10570 745]

Got a chance to take part 4 years ago. Phenomenal drill. Learned a lot.

And I got a t-shirt

Edited May 2, 2010 by ny10570

[Guest alsfirefighter]

First...we ate pulled pork sandwiches and hot dogs.

Second as with any drill there are things that need to be worked on and improved none of which I feel should be discussed on here yet. I can say the moulage was pretty good as well as the victim role players who were very patient...lol..patient..hahaha...and did a great job.

[ny10570 745]

We got hotdogs! I'm furious.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

We got hotdogs! I'm furious.

Bro..and etched mugs...not t shirts..lol. Oh and WAS..long day on my feet evaluating...

[Guest]

I am a relatively new EMT but am able to recognize a sloppy, unorganized event put on at the Westchester Airport MCI this past weekend. People were left sitting on the grass for OVER an hour before being helped. I was carried off on a backboard (after 80 mins) and completely slipped off the board as no one bothered to check if i was strapped down.

The guy a few feet away had a simulated, amputated arm, he was attended to after 75 mins after the horn blew, then he was carried off.

I saw about a dozen ambulances waiting to be dispatched, sitting on the runway, why weren't they used?

I could go on and on but its late, I'm rambling and tired!

I'm sure you get me point.

But to cap it all, a lousy mug that I'd never use. Where's my T-shirt?

[helicopper 1,050]

I am a relatively new EMT but am able to recognize a sloppy, unorganized event put on at the Westchester Airport MCI this past weekend. People were left sitting on the grass for OVER an hour before being helped. I was carried off on a backboard (after 80 mins) and completely slipped off the board as no one bothered to check if i was strapped down.

The guy a few feet away had a simulated, amputated arm, he was attended to after 75 mins after the horn blew, then he was carried off.

I saw about a dozen ambulances waiting to be dispatched, sitting on the runway, why weren't they used?

I could go on and on but its late, I'm rambling and tired!

I'm sure you get me point.

But to cap it all, a lousy mug that I'd never use. Where's my T-shirt?

I'm pretty sure that had it not been a simulated amputated arm it would have been treated much more quickly.

As for your comments about sloppy and disorganized, were you at the "hotwash" this evening to share these comments/concerns with the people responsible for an airport response?

By what standard are you measuring the response and how many of these exercises have you been to as a reference?

If you don't like the mug, you didn't have to take it.

I have lots of thoughts about the exercise and shared some of them tonight at the hotwash and will share others with the evaluation team and exercise designers. How about trying to be constructive yourself?

[firedude 985]

I am a relatively new EMT but am able to recognize a sloppy, unorganized event put on at the Westchester Airport MCI this past weekend. People were left sitting on the grass for OVER an hour before being helped. I was carried off on a backboard (after 80 mins) and completely slipped off the board as no one bothered to check if i was strapped down.

The guy a few feet away had a simulated, amputated arm, he was attended to after 75 mins after the horn blew, then he was carried off.

I saw about a dozen ambulances waiting to be dispatched, sitting on the runway, why weren't they used?

I could go on and on but its late, I'm rambling and tired!

I'm sure you get me point.

But to cap it all, a lousy mug that I'd never use. Where's my T-shirt?

You have to understand that it is a lot of work putting this together. To organize this, it must of took months. As far as the speed of geeting to the injured, they have a plan. The plan will differ depending on what type of accident it is. The ambulances were not being used in the beging to simulate their actual response times to the airport. For example, A Harriosn EMS unit will arrive before a Brewster unit will. They are just trying to make it as real as possible. I know that Purchase held a Meeting in their HQ on monday or tuesday night to discuss what went wrong, what went right and what they can improve on for next year.

[Goose 188]

Is the first scale drill in which the new radio system was utilized? Any thoughts on how it preformed?

[ny10570 745]

Simon, every one of these is a cluster on one level or another. For over a year now FDNY has been conducting the same bus bombing drill at the rock using different fire and ems units each time. Even with everyone knowing what is coming these drills run the gambit from text book to amateur hour. When agencies only get together every 2 years you likely have entirely different people operating and a loss of much of the experience from the last go around. The point of these is to find out where the confusion is and highlight problems. Go to the meetings, express your concerns and take back the findings to yours and your surrounding agencies.

[efdny2003 16]

I was at this years airport MCI drill, it was my first time going to this. Members of my department have gone in the past and said there was a lot of confusion, and several things apparently didn't go as they were planned including transporting the mock patients to real hospitals. This year, again being my first, in my opinion was not that confusing. Unfortunately I did not know there was a meeting at Purchase FD to discuss the drill. Unfortunately there were not many ambulances this year from what I could tell, and that is partly why patients were taking a while to be seen and transported. Also another thing, there were two "Real World Emergencies" the second of which resulted in calling off the rest of the drill. From what I saw, it went fairly smoothly compared to what I've heard about drills in the past. I personally was called from my rig to assist another unit in loading patients and then I road to the "hospital" on that unit. In the real world that could very easily happen..and from what I saw there was a large amount of teamwork; nobody said I don't like that agency so I won't help them but I'll help that one. Everyone worked together including the fire departments involved; they were asked to help load patients and did so without question. There was a little confusion at random points throughout the drill; but I'm sure that, and anyone who's been involved in a real MCI of this scale or similar can add more. That in the real world there's going to be confusion, there's going to be personnel from agencies riding on other agencies ambulances; nothing will go smoothly or perfectly as planned. Things may have gone wrong this year that were planned, or things happened that weren't planned. Those in charge of planning and organizing the drill I'm sure are aware of all that went wrong, and are already working on correcting it, and what went right and are ensuring that happens the next time. The point of drills like this are to train on what could happen so that all involved may be prepared for it if it ever happens for real. In my opinion, an all around educational useful drill.

[TL2L31 8]

What were the real emergencies? I was on standby at PC HQ ans all of a sudden the drill was over.

I was at this years airport MCI drill, it was my first time going to this. Members of my department have gone in the past and said there was a lot of confusion, and several things apparently didn't go as they were planned including transporting the mock patients to real hospitals. This year, again being my first, in my opinion was not that confusing. Unfortunately I did not know there was a meeting at Purchase FD to discuss the drill. Unfortunately there were not many ambulances this year from what I could tell, and that is partly why patients were taking a while to be seen and transported. Also another thing, there were two "Real World Emergencies" the second of which resulted in calling off the rest of the drill. From what I saw, it went fairly smoothly compared to what I've heard about drills in the past. I personally was called from my rig to assist another unit in loading patients and then I road to the "hospital" on that unit. In the real world that could very easily happen..and from what I saw there was a large amount of teamwork; nobody said I don't like that agency so I won't help them but I'll help that one. Everyone worked together including the fire departments involved; they were asked to help load patients and did so without question. There was a little confusion at random points throughout the drill; but I'm sure that, and anyone who's been involved in a real MCI of this scale or similar can add more. That in the real world there's going to be confusion, there's going to be personnel from agencies riding on other agencies ambulances; nothing will go smoothly or perfectly as planned. Things may have gone wrong this year that were planned, or things happened that weren't planned. Those in charge of planning and organizing the drill I'm sure are aware of all that went wrong, and are already working on correcting it, and what went right and are ensuring that happens the next time. The point of drills like this are to train on what could happen so that all involved may be prepared for it if it ever happens for real. In my opinion, an all around educational useful drill.

[efdny2003 16]

The first one was from what I heard a firefighter down, I believe from heat, and the second was a mock patient I believe started experiencing heat exhaustion and dehydration. When they had the second real emergency I believe they decided to call it so we didn't have more real emergencies.

Edited May 5, 2010 by efdny2003