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Military medicine plays key role in national disaster exercise

  • Published
  • By Maria Gallegos and Elaine Sanchez
  • BAMC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  Tornadoes ripped across Oklahoma earlier this week, sending nearly 400 patients with a number of trauma injuries to San Antonio for medical care.

Fortunately, these injuries were simulated, and the patients were volunteers participating in the San Antonio Mass Casualty Exercise Event, coordinated by the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council. SAMCEE is a regional disaster scenario designed to test the ability of area hospitals to respond to a mass casualty event, and to see how efficiently patients can be transported, treated and tracked via the National Disaster Medical System.

"Emergency departments are always prepared to deal with the most critical patients every single day, but they may not be prepared to deal with (as many as) three dozen patients all at once," said Eric Epley, executive director of STRAC.

The exercise brought Army, Air Force and a host of city, state and federal agencies together to orchestrate the movement of casualties into San Antonio, then out to local hospitals. Participants included Brooke Army Medical Center, 59th Medical Wing, 502nd Air Base Wing, 433rd Airlift Wing, Texas State Guard, STRAC, nearly 30 Bexar County hospitals, San Antonio Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services.

"The exercise postures all of us to be prepared and ready to support a patient reception area for our neighboring states within the FEMA Region 6 area," explained Lt. Col. Chuck Williams, coordinator of the Federal Coordinating Center San Antonio.

The Department of Defense has established the BAMC commander as the Defense Department lead for the city's federal coordinating center.

"Our responsibility is to make sure we're working with community, state and federal agencies to help prepare and fulfill our mission," he said.

The San Antonio Shrine Auditorium served as the simulated disaster site, and Hangar 1610 on Kelly Air Field served as the main hub for patient processing and transportation to area hospitals according to injury and bed availability.

Of the nearly 400 patients, 36 were sent to San Antonio Military Medical Center, where they were triaged and treated.

Meanwhile, BAMC leaders gathered in the Emergency Operations Center to monitor the situation and to ensure effective communications with other key military and civilian personnel.

"There was a great deal of effort, communication and overall engagement by the entire facility, and we're very confident we would be able to respond to an actual emergency," said Col. (Dr.) Evan Renz, BAMC's incident commander and deputy for acute care. "The staff and personnel who volunteered to assist today was overwhelming, and the exercise went faster and more smoothly than we even expected."

Williams also deemed the exercise a success. "Regardless of uniforms and agency, we all worked together as a team," he said. "We were successful because everyone pulled together to form one unified group working to ensure the best care for our patients."