Eight Denver hospitals held drills Tuesday to test their abilities to respond to a disaster that would injure thousands of people.
The mock exercise — a “dirty bomb” explosion at a Pepsi Center packed with 20,000 people — was one of the largest-ever cooperative drills for the city’s hospitals, organizers said.
It comes just two months before the Democratic National Convention, when the city will host thousands of people from around the world.
About 140 volunteers participated in the citywide drill, many of them acting as victims.
Though the hospitals knew there would be a drill, the details became known only as the scenario unfolded.
The Office of Emergency Management alerted hospitals about 9 a.m. that a chemical bomb had exploded at the arena.
At Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center, staff members began setting up a decontamination tent outside the emergency room as soon as they received word of the explosion.
Shortly after, about 10 volunteer “victims” lined the wall outside the emergency room, waiting to be hosed down.
The victims wore tags detailing their injuries and symptoms. Jodi Rodgers’ tag said she was a 2-year-old boy whose right arm was broken.
Rodgers, a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital, said she volunteered to make a difference.
“In the event of a true disaster, it’ll make sure we’re prepared,” she said.
The staff herded victims through the tent, hosing them down with water.
They were then sent to the emergency room to receive treatment.
Though the hospital was able to set up the tent in just 30 minutes — 15 minutes less than previous drills — the exercise wasn’t perfect.
Julie Baumer, director of education at the hospital, said the drill revealed some kinks that need to be worked out.
For example, the chemical explosion prompted the hospital to spray down patients before they could enter the hospital. But some need immediate treatment, such as one “victim” who was in labor.
“She’d be screaming bloody murder,” Baumer said. “And that baby is not going to wait for decontamination. So we need to figure out what we’d do right away.”
Each hospital will receive an evaluation for Tuesday’s exercise.
The point of a drill is to identify areas for improvement, said Stephen Cantrill, project director of Colorado BNICE WMD Training Center, which helped organize the effort.
“If you have a drill that goes perfectly, no one learns,” Cantrill said.
Christopher Sanchez: 303-954-1698 or csanchez@denverpost.com
