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Regional Disaster Drill Held for Ohio Valley Hospitals

Wheeling Hospital and other area health care providers participated in the West Virginia Health Care Coalition’s regional disaster drill Thursday.

The full functional exercise was conducted in counties located in the state’s regions 6/7 and 10/11. In such a drill, “everyone is activated and everyone participates,” said John Sebring, Wheeling Hospital’s director of safety.

Wheeling is part of region 10/11, which stretches from Wetzel County to Hancock County and includes five hospitals, Sebring said. Region 6/7 covers the area from Morgantown to the Fairmont corridor.

Other medical facilities in region 10/11 are Wetzel County Hospital, Reynolds Memorial Hospital, Ohio Valley Medical Center and Weirton Medical Center. County health departments and emergency officials also are part of drills.

Coalition officials stated that the goal of the exercise is “to develop, maintain and improve our working relationship with regional health care and emergency response agencies should an emergency occur.” During a drill, participants test their response procedures against adverse circumstances in all environmental conditions.

The scenario for Thursday’s exercise featured a heavy snowstorm, followed by a quick thaw and heavy rain. As the rain continued, the Ohio River and tributaries were flooded and interstate highways were closed.

At Wheeling Hospital, the senior administrative team and representatives from various departments assembled in the board room and activated its emergency disaster plan, Sebring said. As state officials observed the drill, the board room served as the disaster command center.

“The senior administrative staff reports to the command center for assignment or re-assignment,” Sebring said. Since an actual emergency response would last 24 to 48 hours, he added, “After three or four hours, we’ll switch command positions and have other people take a seat for a couple of hours.”

In the scenario for this drill, health care facilities became landlocked because of the weather conditions. At the command center, participants called the hospital’s departments to check on supplies of everything from medications to food, water and clean linens, he said.

The West Virginia Health Care Coalition leads the multi-agency drill. “We’ve been planning this exercise for over a month,” Sebring said.

Other drills within the hospital are conducted without warning to assess readiness for emergencies, he added.

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