Bluefield Regional Medical Center

Tornado Aftermath Training in Mercer County

It's tough to fake the actual damage caused by a tornado unless you use a wrecking ball, but this make-believe situation at the Bluefield First Church of the Nazarene was geared towards making a real difference in a real-life natural disaster. Rebekah Ritter with Bluefield Regional Medical Center said they know it will take teamwork to save lives.

"This is a regional effort on the part of all the emergency responders in our community," said Ritter. That effort includes ambulance personnel, the law enforcement community, and all available fire departments.

Chief Kevin Scanlon with the Bluefield Fire Department said there are serious lessons to be learned. "We find out where our shortcomings are, what we need to work on what resources we'll need in a non-emergent environment," Scanlon said.

People were recovered from the church that was one of the staging areas in this mock disaster, where there were at least 20 victims. In this scenario, some of the victims are covered with an unknown substance, adding a hazmat element to the exercise.

Scanlon said it's tough to capture the reality of a disaster. "Certainly you can't put that part into it. There's not the confusion and the screams and the dead people and all that sort of thing, which we could really have but this is about this is to simulate that sort of thing."

It's not just fire, police, and EMS personnel who benefit from and exercise like the one in Bluefield. It provides an invaluable lesson for the people working in the hospital.

"One of the greatest benefits of this drill is to see the coordination and communication efforts between all the emergency responders and the hospital involved in this drill." Ritter said.

Scanlon said he wishes there could be more simulations like this one.

"We don't get enough of these practice because of our everyday requirements, but this is what this is for to find out if we can work together well, if we have communication problems. What we lack of resources, how do we make up for that? What other agency can we use? Something from the private sector, which we normally wouldn't do. That's what these things are for," said Scanlon.

EKB News: Bluefield Regional Medical Center Reduces Full Time ...

On Thursday, Bluefield Regional Medical Center reduced approximately 20 full time positions, approximately 2 percent of the hospital's total workforce of over 874 people. Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Rebekah Ritter, says the hospital is supporting affected employees during this transition, including providing severance packages, and there will be no impact on patient care. Most of the affected positions are non-clinical.

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