Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) demonstrated its commitment to community safety, staff preparedness and Joint Commission requirements when it recently practiced a toxic chemical accident drill, a hypothetical scenario involving a large influx of patients from a chlorine spill.
As a community collaboration, the Park Slope and BRAVO ambulance teams also participated with the hospital, 150 55th Street. The groups provided both ambulances and emergency medical personnel who practiced their response and also posed as “victims.”
In all, about twenty volunteers (many of whom were local high school students out on summer break) were present to act as victims, who in normal circumstance would be rushed to Lutheran’s Emergency Room and Trauma Center. In this scenario, victims were brought to LMC’s ambulance bays for decontamination. Staff dressed in chemical safety gear scrubbed down the participants as they were “admitted” to the hospital for further treatment.
Although this was a drill, it is an important process that ensures excellence at one of Brooklyn’s most heavily trafficked and accessible hospitals. In the event of a real disaster or emergency, Lutheran would play a large role as a response and decontamination facility. The drill was observed and evaluated by members of the emergency management team and served as a great way to comprehensively assess Lutheran’s approach to emergencies in the community.
