Conn. Responders Drill for Small Aircraft Crash

May 19--WINDHAM -- Mock residents were evacuated from Douglas Manor early Saturday morning, some pulled from the building with fake blood and burns covering their body.

Some were able to walk out by themselves. At least one was brought out in a body bag.

It was a faux worst-case scenario.

"A small aircraft has just crashed into this building," James Lopez, administrator for Douglas Manor, said as emergency personnel carried out a mock emergency preparedness drill. "We've lost power. It injured residents and staff. We have to evacuate the building."

" The scenario isn't too far fetched," Lopez said, alluding to Windham Airport nearby. "The airport isn't too far from here."

The mock incident was reported at 8:07 a.m. and first responders arrived at 8:14 from Windham Center Fire Department -- located a mile down the road.

And they acted out the drill from start to finish with the assistance of local fire, emergency medical services, the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and law enforcement agencies. Other towns also responded to provide mutual aid.

Douglas Manor staff coordinated the drill with the Windham Center Fire Department, which is responsible for coordinating first responders.

Douglas Manor is a skilled nursing facility that specializes in short-term rehabilitation and it also offers long-term care.

The state Department of Public Health requires all long-term care facilities to participate in an emergency preparedness drill annually.

And this event was set up just like a true mass casualty emergency.

Lopez said letters were sent home with family members notifying them of the drill and, for the safety of the residents, no actual residents were involved.

Inside the facility, the lead EMTs were tagging patients using "smart tag" -- a statewide protocol based on patient need.

Susan Herrick, Windham Center Fire Department lieutenant and public information officer for this event, said patients inside were marked with one of four tags to let first responders know who needed urgent care and who could help themselves.

"Anyone who can walk or talk is not treated inside the facility," Herrick said.

She said anyone who is deemed a "lost cause or already dead gets ignored."

"We only have so much to work with and people have to help themselves," she said.

The mock residents and staff were able to talk about the incident and how it unfolded.

"Before I died, I saw a lot of casualties on the floor," said Liisa Rautio, who was acting in her true capacity as a certified nursing assistant at Douglas Manor for the drill.

"When the crash happened, I was right in front of it," she said, covered in what looked to be a realistic portrayal of blood and burns. She wore a black tag that listed her as "dead."

"I was trying to get up to help a couple of the residents ... once I got up on my feet, I blacked out and I must have died there and hit the ground," Rautio said.

She "died" of internal injuries and, after the drill, Rautio showed the spot where she landed with "blood" smeared all over the floor of the recreation room.

Inside, during the " disaster," she said mock patients and staff utilized blood pumps filled with liquid latex grease paint to act out the scenario.

Some of the mock victims -- though covered in blood and burns -- were still level- headed and waited to be transported to a mock shelter set up at Windham Center School.

"Do you know where my son is? Where's my son," said 82-year-old "patient" Gertrude Meyers, played by Shannon Conley, a 47-year-old Groton resident who is a volunteer with the Red Cross as well as EMS for Ledyard Ambulance.

"Meyers" knew there were people who needed more help than her and didn't want to bother anyone while she waited for "Michael Meyers" to come.

"Gertrude Meyers" had MRSA, pneumonia and a little difficulty breathing. She was in her room at the time of the incident.

Other mock victims, such as "Elizabeth Dube" -- an 80-yearold patient with dementia played by Holly Harakaly, 47, of Lebanon -- were grabbing first responders upon arrival, yelling and crying out in pain.

"Dube" was in bed at the time of the crash and sustained firstand second- degree burns.

Visible from the outside was a communication center set up on site and Herrick said the purpose for this is to free up lines for other emergencies at dispatch centers.

A command center tent was nearby to make sure everything stays coordinated.

Inside, Herrick pointed to a "visual map" on the wall, as officials left a paper trail of what departments responded and time of arrival.

The Windham Center Fire Department set up a remote water supply at the end of the driveway with portable tanks for a constant water supply.

Herrick said trucks were dumping nearly 2,000 gallons of water at a time into the holding tanks, feeding it into one tank and using a single fire truck to push it out -- sending it through a 5-inch hose that ran the length of the driveway up to the site.

She said firefighters were tapping into two independent water supplies, including a hydrant on Club Road by the St. Joseph Living Center and the big pond in back of the Windham Center Firehouse.

Pumps were circulating the water and firefighters at the top of the hill were testing the actual flow of the water, Herrick said.

A crowd of real Douglas Manor residents gathered outside on the patio as Life Star made a brief appearance.

"It's kind of exciting for the old farts here," said 84-year-old Donald Nygren. He said he would have just been sitting around waiting for lunch. Instead, his morning was quite entertaining.

"Emergency plans need to be reviewed and exercised regularly or they are simply a waste of paper," stated staff development nurse Sue Dubb in a press release.

"It is better to find out during an exercise, any weaknesses that your plan may contain, than during an actual emergency," she stated. "This will allow us to assess our performance and improve our plan so that we will be better prepared for the real thing."

Even observer Charles Stafford, an emergency management officer for the Naval Branch Health Clinic in Groton, complimented Dubb for her effort.

"Everything has gone as smoothly as possible," said Stafford.

"I think today was a perfect illustration of the chaos that will ensue with any large-scale disaster and the successful response that comes in planning for it," said Linda Colangelo, an education and communications coordinator with the Northeast District Department of Health. She served as the evaluator for "stop point" and family assistance center.

Herrick said representatives from the drill will gather in a week to "pull everything together."

"Then we'll map it out on a timeline and see how it all worked," she said.

Copyright 2014 - The Chronicle, Willimantic, Conn.