GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV)—Hospitals and first responders in Wisconsin train year-round for severe events that require a mass response, typically with at least four staged training exercises.
They completed their most recent one a few weeks ago with northeast and southeast Wisconsin resources, specifically ahead of the NFL Draft.
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“We participated in a mass casualty exercise that involved approximately 20 hospitals throughout two regions, so we’re able to practice our mass casualty response plans in preparation for this large event,” Bellin Health director of emergency management Dave Kobielak said. “Training and preparedness exercises help us identify those gaps, be able to close those gaps and improve our preparedness plans.”
That most recent training exercise included the response for at least 250 patients.
“That amount of patient involvement would impact all of our area hospitals here throughout the Fox Valley,” Kobielak said. “These events could be anything from a small car crash to a major terrorist incident. So we practice to prepare for all levels of response.”
The regional level supplies the backup in emergency events, and hospitals can communicate with each other and first responders across the state.
“Our preparedness efforts start regionally, we have communication platforms that are in place at the state level as well as regional level,” Kobielak said. “We all utilize the incident command response system, we all speak a common language when responding to emergency events. We’re able to easily communicate between first responders, hospitals, law enforcement and even state agencies.”
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Extra hospital staff will be on-hand and on call to provide additional support during the NFL Draft from April 24-26.
“We do have additional staffing plans in place to mobilize additional resources if needed,” Kobielak said. “We have systems in place from the state level where we can identify bed availability across the entire state and move people around if needed.”
Kobielak says first responders and healthcare workers are equipped to treat any potential emergency, no matter how large or rare.
“An influx of patients due to heat-related injuries, foodborne illness, anything like that can be managed by our mass casualty plans and response and preparedness,” he said.
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Kobielak does not want the community to worry about safety during the draft or any community event and says that residents and visitors alike are in good hands.
“This is an exciting event for the community and we always hope that everything is uneventful, other than the event itself,” he said. “I think the community should be aware that we work very hard to prepare if something bad happens, and they can trust us.”
