Photo: Shelly Weston, RN (left) and Amy Gray, RN (right) worked to decontaminate Steve O’Connor, Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency coordinator, during a HazMat drill at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital. Steve played the role of a patient covered in insecticide and the nurses donned HazMat gear to protect themselves while caring for their patient.
Spring is officially here, and with it will soon be the arrival of the farming season. Staff at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital in partnership with the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) recently worked together on a HazMat drill as a training tool to prepare for emergencies, this one involving farm chemicals. The training drill simulated a situation where a person had been doused in chemicals and entered the emergency department at the Lake City Hospital. EMA coordinator, Steve O’Connor, played the role of the victim, who presented at the desk covered in a white powder. The staff directed him to the ambulance garage and the HazMat shower while several other staff members, from maintenance to nursing, prepared to care for the patient. Deb Legore, the emergency department director at SMCH, said that it is a nurses’ natural inclination to help the patient immediately. This can work against them, however, as the fumes can overwhelm medical staff. This drill, she said, is meant to reinforce the importance of protecting themselves before they can properly care for their patient. Drills are conducted twice yearly at SMCH in partnership with the other training received in HazMat awareness and HazMat operations.
