PULSE Magazine | February 2019 Issue

Emergency Management Drills & Exercises

Over Austin- Travis County EMS medics participated in numer- ous regional exercises, drills, and trainings. These exercises better prepare ATCEMS to respond to infrequent yet dangerous incidents. The lessons learned from these exercises are incorporated into future plans and training. The exercises ranged from an active shooter incident to practicing trans- ferring a simulated Ebola patient. February 5th: Regional Capital Area Council of Governments CAPCOG / Capital Area Trauma Re- gional Advisory Council CATRAC exercise in Round Rock, Texas. (Actually 3 different exercises in one day) The first exercise was an active shooter drill with multiple patients. Second exercise focused on an explosive device. The third exercise was a haz- ardous material and radiological incident. The training to place with multiple Police, Fire, and EMS departments from Travis, Williamson, and Hays Counties. February 6th : Also three different exercises. The first was a mock Emergency Operations Center (EOC) activation involving a coordinated attack in the region. The second exercise was a Medical Operations Center (MOC) exercise simulating a surge of patients in the region. The Ambus partici- pated in the third exercise where ATCEMS Medics transported multiple patients to Seton Medical Williamson County hospital. February 8th: ATCEMS Medics participated in an infectious disease respond unit exercise with Seton Healthcare Family. The exercise simu- the last few weeks

lated transferring a suspected patient with Ebola to an emergency room. ATCEMS practiced the most dangerous part of this type of call, the donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE). Medics interacted in their PPE with hospital staff during a patient handoff phase. ATCEMS will be training approximate 30 medics in April to become part of the state wide infectious disease response unit. This unit will be part of the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force (EMTF) program. ATCEMS has many other personnel and units available to the Texas EMTF program includ- ing the Ambus, ambulance strike teams, and single role incident command personnel. February 20th: ATCEMS participated in an active shooter exercise at Camp Mabry. The exer- cise involved multiple patients, practicing our active shooter plan, mass causality plan, and pa- tient tracking. Patients were tracked to six differ- ent hospitals. The ATCEMS Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division plans most exercises with different agencies in the region. Our department normally participates in several large scale regional exercises each year and multiple smaller drills. If you have any questions about exercises or the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division you may contact Commander Keith Noble at keith.noble@austintexas.gov.

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