The Siuslaw news., June 10, 2017, SATURDAY EDITION, Page 7A, Image 7

SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 2017
Training
from 1A
Seven specially trained hospital
staff donned hazmat suits in prepara-
tion for the arrival of the contaminated
victims.
This was not a simple drill by any
standards.
The timing for a multi-agency drill
requiring decontamination worked
well for all the agencies involved.
Peace
Harbor
Emergency
Management
Coordinator
and
Manager of Facilities Pat Kirby said,
“Peace Harbor had just finished devel-
oping what we call our Hazardous
Emergency Response Team (HERT).
We have a group of seven people that
have been trained though the FEMA
program to a contamination event.”
The hospital is required to hold an
annual disaster plan event.
Both hospital and SVFR representa-
tives felt the drill was a success. But
the primary function of a drill like this
is to find weak links and correct them.
According to SVFR Division Chief
of Operations Jim Dickerson, on the
scene decontamination is one of the
areas that needs improvement.
“We need to make sure people are
clean of any chemicals or contami-
nants before we start transporting
them away from what we call the hot
zone,” Dickerson said.
With any disaster of this size, real or
staged, communication is one of the
keys to success.The difficulties of
coordinating multiple agencies and
multiple tasks within agencies can be
daunting.
Both Dickerson and Kirby felt that
communications, both internally and
between agencies, could use improve-
ment.
Kirby said, “One of the lessons we
have to learn here is that communica-
tion between the scene and the hospi-
tal is always a tough issue, as well as
communication within the hospital
staff.”
“It was real-time, real action,”
Dickerson said. “We had some short-
comings. We’ve updated our commu-
nication plan. We know where we
need to be and where we can improve
to serve everyone better.
“One other thing that came out of
the drill was how to get a school bus
on the scene faster to transport ambu-
latory victims to the hospital and clin-
ic”
Dickerson had praise for the other
agencies involved in the exercise.
“EMS and fire work well together,
but adding in the Coast Guard is
another asset that is important for a
coastal community,” Dickerson said.
He spoke of the importance of
group planning and working with City
of Florence Public Works to set up,
block streets and arrange signs .
Kirby said, “I want to give a big
shout-out to all the first responders
who participated. It is great that they
take time out of their day to make this
happen. A lot of these people, it was
their day off, and they responded and
helped out with the drill.”
7 A
In addition to WLEOG members
and the Coast guard, Lane County
Search and Rescue sent personnel to
the drill.
“Lane County Manager Linda Cook
was here from the county to liaison
with us,” Dickerson said. “If this had
been a real event there would have
been a lot more county fire and rescue
vehicles.”
He added, “I think (the drill) came
out 99 percent positive. The crews
reacted well and it was real enough
that we got some good real-time train-
ing.”
There is no word yet on what
WLEOG’s next disaster drill will
cover.
PHOTOS BY LARRY FARNSWORTH AND JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS
Above, WLEOG agen-
cies set up a command
center at the Port of
Siuslaw to direct com-
munications.
EMTs,
firefighters,
Coast
Guard crew members,
Lane County management, hospital personnel
and more were involved in the four-hour drill.
Triage
from 1A
The board I had been placed
on was hard as a rock, but it
was better than the cold wet
ground and the hard chill ema-
nating upwards from the mud.
I was cold and quiet as the
differently clad first responders
from Siuslaw Valley Fire and
Rescue,
Western
Lane
Ambulance District and the
Coast Guard shared informa-
tion — on their radios and
directly — about my and oth-
ers’ conditions.
I was labeled a “code red,”
tagged for decontamination
and then artificially intubated
to ease my respiratory symp-
toms. These procedures were
simulated and I was confident
of the first responders assess-
ment and actions.
A few minutes later, I was
lifted up to a gurney and rolled
into a waiting ambulance along
with one other victim. We rode
a short distance in the vehicle,
while the attending medics
checked my intubation tube
and my vitals. They continued
to ask me health-related ques-
tions, making sure I was as
comfortable as possible.
When we arrived at the hos-
pital, there was some slight
confusion as to the process for
getting my theoretically con-
taminated body into the decon-
tamination chamber, which for
the purpose of this exercise
was a number of large blue
tarps.
I was wheeled into the
tarped area, where my clothes
were symbolically stripped
from my body and I was
washed and wiped down with a
decontaminant and water.
This process was not as
much fun as I had anticipated,
but it did allow me to enter the
last stage of my treatment.
This consisted of a short dis-
cussion with a doctor about my
injuries and the need for a fol-
low up assessment.
I was then released, more
mindful than ever of the dedi-
cation
of Florence’s first
responders.
My overall impression of
the training exercise was
extremely positive. The indi-
viduals involved were focused
and actively sharing informa-
tion with other teams and the
hospital.
The seriousness of the
potential emergency was clear
by the intensity of those
involved. The opportunity for
different agencies to work
together and to assure proper
treatment of victims was clear-
ly paramount in the minds of
the participants.
Strangely, I was pleased to
have been a “victim,” as it
allowed me the opportunity to
see, up close, the professional-
ism and determination of the
community’s first responders.
Who’s Who in
Health, Mind & Beauty
The Pink Pa r lo r
Melissa Bishop completed Beauty College
in 2006 and has been in the beauty fi eld
ever since. She is the owner of Th e Pink
Parlor Salon. Melissa specializes in color
and enjoys working with her clients
to give them beautiful color as well as
cuts. Melissa also off ers manicures and
pedicures, waxing and facials. Melissa
encourages you to stop in and visit her at
the Pink Parlor.
Th e Pink Parlor
1379 Rhododendron Drive
Florence • 541-999-5678
Kr eatio ns Hai r Stu dio
Twila is the owner/operator of Kreations Hair
Studio. She purchased the salon in 2014. Twila
enjoys gettinig to know her clients and helping
them with new styles, color and cuts.
Twila has been a hair stylist for over 20 years.
She moved to the Oregon Coast from Idaho and
is glad she did! She loves everything about the
Oregon Coast.
The salon offers top quality product including
Vegan products. Twila also offers Tanning at the
salon in a very private, relaxing setting. Stop in and
she will be happy to help you with your tanning
needs as well as hair, color, cuts, perms and top
quality product!
Twila
Lenington
Owner
498 Highway 101, St. B • 541-997-8440