Members of Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team attended to about 65 “victims” at a simulated chemical spill for their 4th Mass Casualty Incident Drill. The team cleared the simulation hour in about 30 minutes, improving on last year’s time
Credit: Courtesy of Peter Marotta GudmeOn Sunday morning at South Bank, near the Schuylkill River, Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team had to deal with a situation that it doesn’t see every day — a two-car crash and a chemical spill.
The scene, however, was not a real emergency, but the response team’s fourth annual Mass Casualty Incident Drill. The drill worked to train the team to deal with large-scale trauma.
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The drill involved the cooperation of about 65 volunteers who were covered in fake blood to make their injuries look more life-like. Many were highly enthusiastic about the morning’s drill, even initiating role-play scenarios with the MERT team.
Each volunteer was assigned a specific injury and given details of how to respond to their affliction. Some of their costumes were donations from Philly AIDS Thrift.
Penn’s Division of Public Safety, Allied Barton and the Philadelphia Fire Department helped to organize the drill. In addition, a Management 100 team worked on the drill as their semester project.
Volunteer Shannon Foster described how “it was great to see how the team responded, even if it was just simulated.”
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The MERT team was initially split into two groups: triage — assessing the priority level of casualties — and treatment.
College senior Josh Kaminetsky, who worked in triage Sunday morning, said the team seemed “really up to speed,” and that the exercise showed him the importance of organization and communication in trauma situations.
The crew cleared the scene in approximately half an hour — a marked improvement from the year before.
Wharton freshman Diana Mong’are described the event as “really successful,” especially considering the number of simulated casualties.
Reeves-Darby also discussed how the drill taught MERT members “not to jump the gun,” but to remain calm in stressful situations.
Wharton freshman Peter Gudme, who is part of the Management 100 team, explained that the team has a reputation for dealing primarily with alcohol-related problems but that the drill demonstrates how MERT’s encounters with incidents such as the spill are “a facet that should have more visibility.”
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This article and accompanying caption has been revised to reflect the accurate number of volunteers at the drill and that there are no freshman and publicity committees on MERT.
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