Disaster Drill Scheduled for June 11 at Hendersonville Medical Center

June 1, 2009 – Officials at Hendersonville Medical Center are working with Hendersonville Fire Department, Sumner County EMS, Hendersonville Police and Sumner County EMA to conduct a disaster drill at the hospital next month. The drill will mock a situation where an explosion has occurred on the hospital’s Critical Care Unit and fire has broken out, leading to the need to evacuate several areas, including critically ill patients in the affected nursing unit.

Hendersonville Medical Center is committed to exercising its disaster plans with its local Public Safety partners. These agencies regularly train and practice their plans independently or with like-agencies. Working together with a variety our community public safety professionals during a drill such as this ensures that the appropriate resources are available and coordinated should a similar disaster actually strike the community.

“While we certainly hope an event of this magnitude never happens in Hendersonville or anywhere else, training for such an event is an important part of ensuring that the hospital operates as effectively and as efficiently as we can when a real emergency happens,” said Regina Bartlett, Chief Executive Officer at Hendersonville Medical Center. “Working with local fire and emergency personnel helps guarantee that our collective response to any emergency is as cohesive and as coordinated as possible.”

During the drill, volunteers will act as victims. Every agency’s disaster policies will be implemented.

“We have all plans to make the drill as realistic as possible,” Bartlett said. “All our disaster plans and policies will be in effect.”

While the hospital anticipates no disruption to its regular services, Bartlett cautions that it is imperative that local residents are aware of the drill in advance.

“Every attempt will be made to minimize patient care disruptions,” Bartlett continued. “You can expect to see police, fire and emergency vehicles and personnel at the hospital, and we want to avoid upsetting people who may perceive it as a very real situation.

“We look forward to a great learning event which will test our ability as a hospital, integrating with our community resources, to deal with a very stressful situation.”

The disaster drill is scheduled for Thursday, June 11, from 8am – noon at Hendersonville Medical Center.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of providing quality healthcare to its community in 2009, Hendersonville Medical Center is a 110-bed community-based medical center with comprehensive medical and surgical programs including Obstetrics, Cardiology, Orthopaedics and other services. An affiliate of TriStar Health System, Hendersonville Medical Center remains the only Accredited Chest Pain Center in Sumner County, increasing the likelihood of survival in a cardiac emergency by 37 percent. For more information about the services offered and health plans accepted by Hendersonville Medical Center or TriStar Health System, or to request a tour of Hendersonville Medical Center, call TriStar MedLine at 342-1919 or 800-242-5662.

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