SMMC to Participate in Community-wide Disaster Exercise

09/10/2012

Southern Maine Medical Center (SMMC) will be partnering with the York County Emergency Management Agency to conduct a community-wide disaster exercise to test the hospital’s response to a mass casualty event on Saturday, September 22 from 9am to noon.  The exercise will simulate a large chemical exposure requiring primary and secondary decontamination and treatment to test the county’s ability to respond to a mass casualty and hazardous material emergency.  The drill scenario is based on an actual situation which occurred in Florida this past April. 

“As part of our Joint Commission accreditation, SMMC is required to test its Emergency Operations plan no less than twice per year in response to an actual event or a planned exercise,” stated Norman Cote, SMMC’s safety manager.  “This exercise not only allows us to test our plan but also tests our ability to work with a unified command structure among local agencies during a mass casualty situation.  It will be a great assessment of this very critical system, which is designed to ensure everyone involved works together for our community’s safety.”

Other local agencies involved in this community-wide exercise are: Biddeford Fire Department, York County Emergency Management Agency, Regional Emergency Medical Information System, Southern Maine Community College Paramedic Students, Southern Maine Regional Resource Center, Poison Control Center and Northeast Mobile Health Services.

About Southern Maine Medical Center
Southern Maine Medical Center (SMMC) is a national award-winning healthcare system including a medical center offering excellent clinical care and a multi-specialty physician services group. SMMC features one of Maine's leading Emergency Care centers as well as a full range of inpatient and outpatient services at its 150-bed acute care medical center. Non-emergency care is available without an appointment seven days a week at SMMC’s Walk-In Care center in Saco. SMMC's physician services offer high quality medical care through offices located in Biddeford, Kennebunk, Old Orchard Beach, and Saco and a wide array of outpatient services at its diagnostic and therapy centers in Saco, Kennebunk, and Biddeford. SMMC is Joint Commission accredited, state-licensed, and is a member of the MaineHealth system. To learn more visit www.smmc.org.

Media Contact:   
Leslie Roberts
(207) 283-7232
lbroberts@smmc.org