Responders rush to Demorest college for mass casualty incident

DEMOREST — It's the type training area emergency responders hope they'll never have to use, but should the need arise they want to be prepared.

On Wednesday, the Piedmont College School of Nursing & Health Sciences held its annual disaster drill on the college's Demorest campus. But the drill involved much more than just college students and staff.

"Today's disaster drill simulated suspicious packages and explosive devices at more or less a rally that was at Arrendale Amphitheater on Piedmont College property," said Assistant Professor Karen Greilich. "It involved 91 victims, who were primarily junior level nursing students and health science students.

"Then we had 60-some rescuers who were senior level nursing students, and then of course we had lots of involvement from outside agencies, including Piedmont College Police, Habersham County Sheriff's Office, Demorest Police, Demorest Fire, Habersham County Fire, Habersham County Sheriff's Office, Habersham EMS," Greilich said.

Members of the Piedmont theatre department assisted with makeup and simulated injuries, as well as the pyrotechnics for the drill.

Following the exercise, first-year Piedmont College Police Chief Marie Taylor shared her thoughts.

"I think overall we did a really great job," Taylor said. "We had a lot of fun, but we learned a lot. It identified some areas that we need to work on, and some areas where we already are doing really, really well."

Taylor said putting together an exercise involving between 200 and 250 people is no small task.

"We started planning this right after I started here in December," Taylor said.

A specialized tool used in response to this year's disaster scenario came from the Habersham County Sheriff's Office.

"We had the bomb dog because it was an explosive device," Greilich said. "Tito, the German Shepherd, came in to clear the scene prior to having other responders come in to help."

In addition to the above agencies, Habersham Emergency Management Agency/9-1-1, District 2 Public Health and Habersham Medical Center also participated.

"We actually had some of our victims transported to Habersham Medical Center with Piedmont maintenance as the ambulances," Greilich said. "They were treated and triaged at the hospital itself."

Greilich said she was pleased with the disaster drill, and she already is making mental notes for next year.

"I think the exercise went really well," Greilich said. "I think it was very realistic. We had the red, yellow, green and black tarps laid out on the ground to simulate the different injuries and the victims -- where they were triaged to, and the nursing students took care of them."

Greilich, who has worked in a fast-paced hospital environment, knows the importance of training and preparing for the unknown.

"I think the inter-professional involvement was some of the best," Greilich said. "It was more realistic than in years past. Everyone had their role and did their part, and everyone worked really, really well together. If there ever is an incident like this, I think everyone is a little bit more prepared."

Similarly, Taylor said she picked up some ideas for training that will be beneficial to campus police officers and other stakeholders.

"It's given me some good ideas on some different ways to train before we come to this point next year, and just in case there's anything that ever does happen here, because this scenario was taken straight out of the headlines — the incidents out at UCAL Berkeley," Taylor said.

Amanda McAuliffe, senior nursing student from Piedmont Athens campus, comforts a victim who holds on to her friend.

Piedmont College Police Officer Shane Free coordinates with Chief Marie Taylor on the scene of Wednesday morning's disaster.

Piedmont College nursing students help an incident victim to the triage area.

Smoke lingers as Demorest Fire personnel arrive on scene at Arrendale Amphitheater.

Amanda McAuliffe, senior nursing student from Piedmont Athens campus, shields the face of one of the victims as she moves her to the triage area.

Nursing students and area emergency personnel work through the smoke at Arrendale Amphitheater.

Habersham County Sheriff's Office School Resource Officer Murray Kogod and Demorest Police Chief Robin Krockum help nursing students move a victim.

Amanda McAuliffe and Leon Pryce, senior nursing students from Piedmont Athens campus, work to restrain victim Neile Chambers, a junior nursing student from Piedmont Demorest campus.

Officers from Demorest and Piedmont College police departments handcuff an unruly individual who is disrupting rescue efforts.

Lt. Les Hendrix and Sheriff Joey Terrell prepare to load two individuals who disrupted rescue efforts.

Smoke from a simulated explosive device lingers near the Arrendale Amphitheater at Piedmont College.

Cpl. Eugene Kemp and Tito of the Habersham County Sheriff's Office prepare to check for potential explosive devices.

Piedmont College Police Officer Bill Simmons was one of the victims of Wednesday morning's simulated explosion.

Paramedics Chad Black and Michael Alexander track victims of Wednesday morning's incident.

District and local emergency response personnel coordinate how to handle the large number of patients.

Emergency responders quickly fill College Drive on the Piedmont College campus in Demorest.

Karen Greilich, assistant professor of nursing, and Piedmont College Police Chief Marie Taylor coordinated this year's disaster drill.

Habersham County Fire Chief Jeff Cain, Paramedic Chad Black, Sheriff Joey Terrell, School Resource Officer Murray Kogod and Capt. Floyd Canup observe how the nursing students handle the chaos.

Piedmont College nursing students learn by experience that moving patients on a scene is different that moving them in a medical facility.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/3/517432/responders-rush-to-demorest-college-for-mass-casualty-incident