Jamaica Hospital Medical Center Emergency Department (ED) physicians Anthony Almeida, Richard Tang, and Celine Thum, as well as physician assistant Melissa Saravia, recently spent a week training at the FEMA Center for Domestic Preparedness at the Department of Homeland Security in Anniston, Alabama.
The ED team members participated in the Healthcare Leadership for Mass Casualty Incidents course; a comprehensive training program designed to equip healthcare professionals with the skills needed to respond to mass casualty incidents effectively.
The course emphasizes disaster preparedness at both the facility and system levels, ensuring that leaders are ready to handle various types of emergencies that may result in multiple casualties. These incidents can range from natural disasters to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosives (CBRNE) hazards, as well as disease outbreaks leading to epidemics or pandemics.
Through a combination of lectures, discussions, and practical exercises, the Jamaica Hospital ED participants learned critical decision-making strategies.
Highlights of their week-long training experience also included learning how to develop emergency public information and risk communication messages, as well as the requirements for decontamination procedures in healthcare settings. They also gained a thorough understanding of numerous concepts associated with the disaster-planning process and the roles of various agencies in emergency management.
The week culminated in a two-day simulation at a training facility, called an Integrated Capstone Event (ICE). Here, multiple disciplines addressed a mass casualty incident where an initial call-out, scene assessment, rescue, decontamination, pre-hospital treatment, crime scene management, hospital response coordination, and other critical functions were carried out in a simulated city.
We’re pleased to share that after intense training, doctors Almeida, Tang, Thum, and PA Melissa Saravia have successfully completed the FEMA course and are proud graduates of the program. They have gained valuable knowledge and experience that has prepared them to respond effectively to man-made and natural disasters and deliver care in extreme emergencies. Their training highlights our ED’s dedication to healthcare disaster planning and hospital response in all-hazards disasters.
