McLaren Bay Region hosted a disaster preparedness drill Wednesday, November 3, 2021. This event was made possible through joint planning and cooperation of several local organizations and agencies including the Bay-Arenac Intermediate School District, Bay County Active Assailant Task Force, Medstar, and the Monitor Township Fire Department.
The drill simulated a mass casualty event with an active shooter at the Bay Arenac ISD Career Center. First responders received the call for emergency services at 9:06 a.m. Multiple simulated “victims” were then prepared for transportation to McLaren Bay Region where an External Disaster Drill code was issued, and Incident Command was called into action.
“It is very important that we prepare for a situation like this in the event it should happen in our community,” said Patti Irwin, Trauma Program Manager at McLaren Bay Region. “We want to make sure we have the correct processes and systems in place to care for the influx in critically injured patients should the situation arise.”
As a Level III Trauma Center, McLaren Bay Region conducts a minimum of two external disaster drills per year. To earn this designation, surgeons, emergency medicine physicians, specialty trained nurses and other vital personnel are available or on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Vital support services throughout the hospital are also available, such as the blood bank, laboratory, respiratory therapists, and imaging services, as well as case managers, clinical social workers, and other medical professionals.
“We at Medstar appreciate the value of teamwork and would like to thank all of our partners today for helping to run the drill so smoothly,” said Sheri Bird, Operations Supervisor at Medstar.
During the drill, McLaren Bay Region continued to operate normally, and patient care was not affected.