LAKE COUNTY — An Office of Emergency Services (OES) mass casualty scenario took place Wednesday afternoon in Upper Lake off of Highway 20, with a goal of determining where the strengths and weaknesses are in Lake County”s emergency response plan.
Bill Woodworth of the Mendocino OES evaluated the first 30 minutes of the three-hour event. “I thought they did very well,” Woodworth said of the mass-accident scene.
About 120 personnel from 41 different agencies ? from fire departments to animal control ? participated in the scenario.
Set up was a realistic-looking major traffic collision with a spilled hazardous material. Volunteers portrayed the 18 fatalities, 40 major traumas, 25 delayed traumas and 25 walking wounded.
Three emergency response air ambulances practiced landing and loading in an adjacent field.
CHP Officer Adam Garcia said for the past two years, Lake County has been chosen for the event “due to increased traffic and large occupancy tourist buses.”
That was determined in February. The first OES drill occurred in July 2007.
This year, the scenario was a major, multi-vehicle traffic collision at the start/finish line of an ESPN triathlon. One of the vehicles spilled a hazardous material out of large canisters and contaminated victims and vehicles.
Emergency personnel did not know what the scenario was as they got clearance from commanders and started triage ? a process of prioritizing treatment of victims based on their condition.
Garcia said an incident just like that “could realistically happen here,” because numerous vehicles carrying chemicals, medical supplies, gas and other hazards travel through the county on a daily basis.
The chemical in the simulation Wednesday was determined by personnel to be a non-hazardous ultrasound gel that spilled from a truck.
Victims went through a detoxification process in which they were washed, so as not to contaminate other patients when admitted to the hospital.
Garcia said the event is “a training opportunity for hospitals” as well, because participants were actually transported via ambulance and to Redbud, Sutter Lakeside or Ukiah Valley hospitals.
Northshore Fire Department Battalion Chief Pat Brown said the event is “an extremely good tool because not one department can do anything like this on its own.”
Woodworth said, “these are the actual people who do the job every day ? this way, they work together and get to know one another and don”t have to hand out business cards when they respond to an accident.”
Brown said on Monday, an accident on Highway 20 on the Lake/Colusa county was just one of many incidents where numerous agencies came together. “That taxed Northshore. We are at our limit.” He said Lake County Fire came in to help as well as Williams Fire Department. And Williams Fire Department manned the Northshore Fire Department during the event Wednesday. “We really don”t have a county border when it comes to working with each other and working with the Emergency Medical Service council,” Brown said.
Contact Elizabeth Wilson at ewilson@record-bee.com.
