Wake County EMS to Coordinate Training Nov. 3 for National Medical Disasters

11/1/2007

Wake County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) will coordinate the work of more than 24 local agencies in a National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) drill on Saturday, November 3, 2007, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) Cargo Operations Area.

The drill is being sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety (via the Raleigh/Wake Metropolitan Medical Response System program) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The drill is designed to test the system's ability to move large numbers of people from one area of the country to another, and treat and/or hospitalize them, in the event of a peacetime or military disaster. The Triangle is designated in the NDMS to receive disaster victims from other states.

“In 2005, Wake County participated in the NDMS’s response to Hurricane Katrina. By all accounts, the NDMS system worked,” said Wake County Commissioner Paul Coble. “Exercises like these help us – and NDMS – maintain and improve our mass-casualty-response skills.”

The drill scenario calls for 30 people on board a National Guard C-130 aircraft to act as patients requiring treatment and further hospitalization. This involves relocation of patients from a mass-casualty event in a Gulf Coast City. The patients will be triaged (medically prioritized for treatment) on site at the airport. EMS participants will coordinate and undertake patient transport to local hospitals in temporary field treatment areas.

Although drill participants will not use sirens or emergency lights, people may notice a large number of public safety vehicles in the vicinity of the airport. Normal airport operations will not be disrupted.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, “The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) is a federally coordinated system that augments the nation's medical response capability. The overall purpose of the NDMS is to establish a single integrated national medical response capability for assisting state and local authorities in dealing with the medical impacts of major peacetime disasters, and to provide support to the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs medical systems in caring for casualties evacuated back to the U.S. from overseas armed conventional conflicts.”

Notes to Media:

- Reporters and photographers wishing to cover the drill should contact Jeffrey Hammerstein, Wake County EMS District Chief, at 919-625-3260.

- Media parking will be available north of the UPS operations center located on International Drive. Signs will be posted directing you to this location from the airport entrance.

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