AMTS Beta F.I.S.H. Exercises

Exercise Name:

BETA F.I.S.H. Exercise - Leon
(Florida Intermediary Support to Hospitals)

Exercise Date/Time:

Tabletop (Facilitated)	July 1, 2008	9:00am
Drill (Facilitated)	July 22, 2008	9:00am

Exercise Location:

Tabletop (Facilitated)	Betty Easley Conference Center 4075 Esplanade Way #180 Tallahassee, FL 32311	Map
Drill (Facilitated)	North Florida Fairgrounds 615 Paul Russell Rd Tallahassee, FL 32311	Map

Program Information

Florida's Department of Health has undertaken an initiative to reduce the level of patient surge on hospitals during Mass Causality Incidents by establishing county and regional Alternative Medial Treatment Sites (AMTS).

Leon County was selected as a Beta Test county for establishing an AMTS as part of a medical surge response to a mass casualty incident.

The highest priority for this exercise was to test the notification of all current AMTS team members and their ability to activate and deploy to a rally point to establish an operational AMTS.

Exercise Purpose

The mission of this series of exercises was to build on the foundation already established in regards to the AMTS serving Leon County. During this exercise, AMTS team members went through an activation drill where they will be contacted to deploy to a rally point then set up needed equipment.

Exercise Mission

Was to provide a realistic transportation scenario which allowed the leadership of the regional AMTS to analysis their capabilities.

Scenario Type

Transportation

Summary

Each February third, fourth and fifth grade students from Springhill Elementary School in Leon County participate in the Florida Nature Festival held at Wakulla Springs State Park. The festival begins early in the morning, 8:30AM and runs all day with the students learning valuable lessons regarding North Florida eco-systems and the need to preserve this natural treasure for generations to come.

This year Springhill Elementary School had 374 students that used seven school buses to travel to the festival. As the scheduled day of the trip arrived, students are asked to be at school 7:30AM so they could board the buses for the 45 minute trip to Wakulla Springs State Park.

During the months of February and March the U S Forest Services, who manages the Apalachicola National Forest, conducts numerous controlled burns to reduce the forest fuel load and prevent devastating wildfires during Florida's dry season.

It is also very common during the months of February and March for extensive fog banks to form throughout the region during the early morning hours and not burn off until late morning, usually around 11:00AM.

As the convoy of seven buses traveled down Wakulla Springs Road (State Road 61) in the early dawn they ran into a heavy concentration of smoke from the previous day's controlled burn mixed with an intense fog bank bringing visibility to almost zero near the Leon / Wakulla County line.

As the first bus entered the thick smog and begins to reduce speed, the second bus, unable to see the first bus slowing down, struck the first bus at approximately 55 MPH. What followed is a chain reaction crash involving four of the seven buses.

Executive Summary

During this Beta Test of the Leon County AMTS, leaders and members were given an opportunity to evaluate their ability to respond to a large Mass Causality Incident.

First, in an effort to assess the knowledge of area emergency response agencies in the various functions of an AMTS, a Tabletop Exercies was facilitated in which a number of AMTS operational concepts were evaluated.

Then during a one half day Drill format exercise, AMTS leadership and members were mobilize to deploy the AMTS equipment package, respond to the needs of up to 100 simulated patients while testing the operating procedures of the AMTS, then demobilize and repack the equipment package.