disaster drill !

Yesterday, I participated in the "Functional Field Exercise" which was a test of emergency preparedness. This took place at both the Texas Motor Speedway (where they simulated a dirty bomb attack via small plane) and many area hospitals. I was assigned to Children's Medical Center where about 25 volunteers (mostly nursing students) gathered. Someone told me that about 2500 volunteers were involved, Metroplex-wide. Various "injuries" were assigned to each of us; I chose a broken arm and radiation exposure. Although Children's (about 275 beds) caters to those under 18, in the event of a disaster, it can be used like any other hospital with an ER [Emergency Room]. Lesson learned: not all hospitals have ERs.

In the exercise, we were transported by ambulance to the ER, then scanned (Geiger counters) for radiation before being "decontaminated" and then "treated" for our injuries. I use the "" marks because they didn't really take X-rays, decontaminate or otherwise treat us, but they did go through the motions. Yes, mistakes were made and hopefully a debriefing session will correct those flaws.

The exercise appeared to be done by Defenbaugh & Associates (yes, the Danny Defenbaugh of FBI fame). He retired as head of the Dallas FBI office in 2002.