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Mahoning, Trumbull emergency response drills put crews to test
By Ed Runyan
Television dramas such as “NCIS: Los Angeles” are not 100 percent realistic, but they do give a glimpse into the world of technology that officials in the Mahoning Valley hope to emulate.
During a Trumbull County Local Emergency Planning Committee full-scale exercise Thursday morning, and another at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, officials became a little more aware of the limits of the technology available. It was all part of a 13-county drill.
Linda Beil, Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency director, said the Trumbull exercise, which was focused on a pretend hazardous-material spill at the former DIY store on Elm Road Northeast, reinforced the desirability of having top-notch technology available.
The exercise, required every four years, is designed to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of Trumbull County emergency personnel when faced with a large-scale emergency. The drill was a success, but having more tools to help coordinators receive, share and distribute information would be a plus, Beil said.
She said the images we see on television, when agents are gathering information and displaying it on digital- display screens, is the kind of technology she believes will be more readily available in the months to come.
Beil and Mike Wilson, a member of the Trumbull LEPC, said the traditional aspects of the exercise — firefighters responding, evaluating the emergency, setting up a command center nearby, notifying the HazMat team, setting up road blocks and evacuating people to shelter — went well for the most part.
But in today’s age, social media are pervasive, so the exercise reflected the need to be aware of what people are saying on Twitter and Facebook, because rumors and misinformation can cause unnecessary problems, Beil said.
Part of the exercise was to have pretend citizens and news media report false alarms, such as concerns that the emergency — a tanker truck being punctured by youths horsing around in a car — was actually an act of terrorism.
Wilson said better communication will allow the public-information officers at the command center to get accurate information to the public faster to dispel false rumors.
Widespread power outages, a failed backup generator, calling out additional staff and quickly freeing up hospital capacity were among situations faced by crews at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.
The St. Elizabeth command center swung into action about 8:20 a.m., shortly after learning that the mock disaster was a severe ice storm that knocked out power over a wide area, caused hazardous driving conditions leading to many vehicle-crash victims, including two buses taking children home when schools closed, and dangerous flooding along the Mahoning River.
Headed by incident commander Donald Koenig, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Humility of Mary Health Partners, the command center called out off-duty staff and canceled elective surgery to help handle the expected surge of storm victims.
The command center, under the supervision of Patricia Melnykovich, HMHP safety and emergency-preparedness officer, included representatives from all hospital departments.
Koenig’s responsibilities as incident commander, besides leading the St. Elizabeth Youngstown command center, included coordinating with other command centers at HMHP and other hospitals, such as ValleyCare Health System of Ohio, and emergency- management agencies.
The purpose of Thursday’s mock disaster, a regional functional exercise involving 38 hospitals and an estimated 1,000 individuals, was to test systems and communications and how well people from various hospitals work together sharing information and resources, such as staff, facilities, medical supplies and pharmaceuticals.
Exercise command centers also were established at HMHP’s St. Elizabeth Boardman and St. Joseph Health Center in Warren, and ValleyCare’s Northside Medical Center in Youngstown and Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren.
The actual scenario or type of disaster that is the catalyst of the exercise is a closely guarded secret. “We want all participants to respond in real time as realistically as possible. If we told them what was coming, we wouldn’t be able to accurately test the response and decisions made on the fly, under pressure,” said Sarah Short, Northeast Central Ohio Region 5 hospital coordinator and project manager.