Mass casualty drill postponed to spring

A mass casualty exercise planned for the Wrangell Medical Center has been postponed.

The volunteers needed to play victims, friends, family members and news reporters in the drill originally planned for Oct. 5 have been notified that the drill has been moved to the spring of 2022.

A new date is to be determined, said Michelle Walters, operations manager at Tegria Clinical Solutions, the Seattle-based company planning the drill for the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

Caregivers are burnt out. “All the communities have been working through COVID,” Walters said. “Every place we’ve been going to has been short-staffed.” Leadership decided adding one more thing to their daily load was not the right call.

“By moving it, we’ll be able to focus on the goals of the simulation and engage external partners like the police department. Everyone is just overloaded,” Walters said.

Drills provide an opportunity for hospital staff “to test their emergency plans and procedures,” SEARHC had said in a promotional flyer for the event.

Wrangell is not the only place where the drill has been postponed. Walters also hopes to set new dates in April for Sitka, Haines and Klawock.