Annual Disaster Drill at LGA on Saturday 9/12/09

[emshighway]

The annual drill will be held tomorrow at LGA. Expect to see a lot of emergency vehicles. It usually gets going around 10AM.

[PhilDernerJr]

I think 9/12 is a bad day to do such a thing, but oh well.

I've always wondered exactly how these drills go. Is it just to practice the actual response? Or do these people actually DO something for the drill after they show up?

I guess I just don't see how someone can practice something if there's nothing actually going on.

[Gerard]

As long as they notify the media and other agencies and no one screams "Fire" or "shots fired" on the radio it should
be fine.

[njgtr82]

EWR is having one tommorow as well

[NYCMedic]

When I was a Medic at JFK we used to participate in a multi-agency drill every year by Hangar 19. United always provided a 747 and they would blow the slides and have people act as casualties and wear moulage (makeup and casting to look like injuries). PAPD also held other specific drills for Hostage, Explosive, and crash preparedness. My favorite was always the ATC Tower drill..... It's a shame they disbanded the Paramedic program.

[emshighway]

Yea, there are volunteers in moulage and the whole nine yards. I have done it with EMS several times and it is to test the response, triage, treatment, transport of patients and the interagency communications with all the perils. The exercise is mandated by FAA/TSA regulations within a certain timeframe.

HPN will be having a tabletop Tuesday.

I am proud to say that at one of these I was in charge of triage and treatment and we had all alive patients triaged, initially treated and transported within 20 minutes of arriving. Really pissed off PANYNJ since they weren't even set up yet. :D