Dayton Children’s Hospital to hold full-scale emergency preparedness exercise

Dayton Children's Hospital will participate in a full-scale emergency preparedness drill on Saturday, September 13, conducted by the Dayton Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS).

• Mock mass casualty scenario at Kiser Elementary School with simulated gunshots, explosions and actors in heavy makeup portraying injured students.
  • 9:45 am media availability for video of simulated walk-through with police and fire/EMS interior incident response prior to exercise start. MMRS and Dayton Police and Fire personnel will be available to media at Kiser.
• Response at Dayton Children's main and south campuses with increased traffic, police presence and actors in heavy makeup portraying patients
  • 11 a.m. media availability for interviews with personnel from Dayton Children's Hospital at the hospital's main campus lobby.

The exercise is designed to simulate a real-world emergency scenario involving mass casualties and will help evaluate and strengthen the hospital's response protocols as well as those of police, fire and EMS. The drill will also test the effectiveness of the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS), enhance coordination with local EMS, fire, police, public health, and hospital partners and ensure Dayton Children's staff are prepared and confident in responding to a critical incident.

"It's become increasingly important to be prepared for the unexpected and the unimaginable," said Mark Moore, chief security officer for Dayton Children's Hospital. "It's essential we practice real-world scenarios to test our processes, skills and collaboration with community agencies. That way we will always be ready to respond quickly and effectively for our community."

During the exercise, community members may notice increased activity at both campuses, including participation from hospital teams and local emergency response agencies. Actors with heavy make-up will portray injured patients, some with simulated severe injuries. Patient care will not be affected during the drill.

The exercise will take place in the morning and is expected to conclude by early afternoon.

Note to media: Media are invited to cover the exercise at Kiser Elementary School at 9:45 a.m. Access will be limited during certain portions of the drill due to safety procedures, however, a demonstration will be conducted specifically for the media which will include sounds and sights of an active incident beginning at precisely 9:45.

Interviews with hospital officials will be offered at 11 a.m. at Dayton Children's Hospital main campus. Media interested in an interview should meet in the main lobby at this time. Media contact for the day is Grace Jones, Director of Consumer Branding, [email protected] or 412-526-9660.